Penny Stock Dealer Charged By The SEC

In the federal court of Miami, a complaint was filed by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) that claimed Justin W. Keener had purchased convertible notes from penny stock issuers in between the times of January of 2015 and January of 2018.

The SEC had brought charges Against Keener and JMJ Financial as they had failed to register as a securities dealer with them. Allegedly, Justin W. Keener has already traded billions of newly issued shares of penny stock and made millions in profit as a result.

Specifically speaking, the complaint filed by the SEC stated that Keener had bought these convertible notes from over 100 issuers, selling over 17 billion shares of the newly issued penny stock, while making more than $21.5 million worth of profit as a result.

Given the fact that Justin W. Keener was not actually an SEC-registered dealer, he violated the registration provisions of the federal securities law, which is mandatory to conduct business revolving around any financial products and services.

Justin W. Keener is charged with the violation of the registration provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. What’s more, the SEC seeks a permanent injunction from JMJ Financial as a means of repaying all gains with prejudgment interest, a penny stock bar and a civil penalty.

Carolyn Welshhans, the Associate Director of the Division of Enforcement, commented on the matter, insinuating the importance of the responsibilities and regulatory obligations that comes with being a dealer in their securities market, which also includes the submission to regulatory inspections and oversights of the operations, something Justin W. Keener had evaded.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is very serious when it comes to regulations, maintaining fair and orderly functions of securities markets, even rewarding whistleblowers millions of dollars if it means protecting investors. It is in everybody’s best intentions to comply with them, as sooner or later, everybody will be crack downed on.