2 settle SEC case for $300,000

11/9/2006

Two British Columbia men charged in a stock market manipulation scheme involving a company briefly claiming to be from Toledo have agreed to pay more than $300,000 for their ill-gotten gains, U.S. and Canadian regulators announced yesterday.

The two are Mervin Fiessel, majority shareholder of Greyfield Capital Inc., a state of Oregon company affiliated with a used car dealership in Kamploops, B.C., and Robert Doherty, formerly the company's president and director.

They agreed to the repayments and other stipulations without admitting or denying allegations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Greyfield Capital issued news releases for several weeks last year identifying Toledo as its home.

The SEC alleged the two men and other Greyfield Capital promoters misappropriated an inactive shell company, improperly issued hundreds of millions of new shares, started a false and misleading publicity campaign, and then sold tens of millions of shares.

They owe $181,246, including interest, in the United States and nearly $128,000 to the British Columbia Securities Commission.

Once the money is paid to U.S. District Court in Eastern Virginia, the SEC could file a plan to have the funds distributed to Greyfield Capital shareholders, said C. Joshua Felker, an assistant director with the SEC.

Mr. Doherty's attorney in Vancouver, John Forstrom, said yesterday his client has decided not to comment on the case. Mr. Fiessel's attorney could not be reached for comment.

As part of the agreement, the two men cannot be officers or directors of publicly traded companies, and they cannot be consultants to those encouraging people to invest in penny-stock firms.