The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday charged 12 companies and six individuals with defrauding investors in an alleged scheme that raised more than $12.4 million from investors involving applications to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for cellular spectrum licenses.
According to the SEC's complaint filed in federal district court in Arizona, David Alcorn and Kent Maerki orchestrated the offering fraud through Janus Spectrum LLC, a Glendale, Arizona-based company they founded and managed.
Janus Spectrum held itself out as a service provider that prepares cellular spectrum license applications on behalf of third parties. The complaint alleges that although Alcorn and Maerki had third parties offer and sell securities based on the licenses to investors, they were personally involved in presentations to investors and Maerki appeared in misleading videos, including one called "Money from Thin Air."
The SEC alleges that investors in the scheme were promised potentially lucrative returns based on Janus Spectrum obtaining FCC licenses in the Expansion Band and Guard Band portions of the 800 megahertz (MHz) band.
The SEC's complaint alleges that the scheme raised more than $12.4 million from investors from May 2012 to October 2014. The fundraising entities funneled a significant percentage of the investors' funds to Janus Spectrum, which used only a small portion to prepare applications for FCC licenses. The complaint alleges that instead, all of the individuals in the scheme kept a significant portion of investor funds for personal use.
