Another Sentence Rendered in Multi-Million Dollar Stock Scheme

SUFFIELD, CT — A Florida man was sentenced to prison on Friday for teaming up with a Suffield man and others in a securities fraud scheme, a leading prosecutor said.

John H. Durham, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, said that William Lieberman, 42, of Boca Raton, FL, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven to 84 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for his role in the scheme.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between 2010 and July 2016, Lieberman conspired with others, including Christian Meissenn of Suffield, to defraud investors through a stock “pump and dump” scheme.

Lieberman and his "co-conspirators" induced investors to purchase securities by making false and misleading representations in calls, emails and news releases concerning the securities and the issuing companies, thereby causing the price of those securities to become falsely inflated, according to case records.

According to case records, the issuing companies included Terra Energy Resources Ltd. (trading under the stock symbol “TRRE”); Mammoth Energy Group, Inc. (“MMTE”), a company that later became Strategic Asset Leasing Inc. (“LEAS”); Trilliant Exploration Corporation (“TTXP”); Hermes Jets, Inc. (“HRMJ”), which later became Continental Beverage Brands Corporation (“CBBB”); Dolat Ventures, Inc. (“DOLV”), and Fox Petroleum, Inc. (stock symbol “FXPT”).

At various times, Lieberman served in various executive capacities of the companies and issued "false and misleading press releases concerning the financial health and prospects of the companies," according to case records.

He also was aware that co-conspirators were making false and misleading statements to promote the sale of these securities, Durham said.

As part of the scheme, Lieberman arranged for attorneys, including Corey Brinson of Connecticut and Diane Dalmy of Colorado, to sign false and misleading opinion letters that were designed to provide assurances to securities transfer agents and prospective investors, case records indicate.

At times, he affixed attorneys’ signatures to the opinion letters that falsely certified that the attorneys had adequately reviewed corporate records and filings for the issuing companies and were satisfied with the adequacy of the companies’ public disclosures, according to case records.

Lieberman and his co-conspirators also conducted matched or coordinated trades of securities among themselves or in large blocks at predetermined prices, in order to artificially boost the trading volume of the securities, create the appearance of liquidity and falsely drive up the share price, according to case records.

After selling their own shares at a profit, the conspirators allowed the price of the securities to fall, leaving investors with worthless and unsalable stock, according to case records.

As a result, more than 12,000 "victim investors" collectively lost nearly $19 million, Durham said.

Between 2011 and 2015, Lieberman earned nearly $1.2 million through the scheme, case records show.

He failed to report this income to the Internal Revenue Service, evading $436,235 in federal income taxes for the 2011 through 2015 tax years, authorities said.

On May 10, 2017, Lieberman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and one count of tax evasion. Judge Meyer ordered Lieberman to pay $5,301,694 in restitution to the victims of the fraud scheme, and $436,235 to the IRS.

Lieberman, who is released on bond, was ordered to report to prison on Aug. 13.

Meissenn, Brinson, Dalmy and three others also pleaded guilty to various offenses in the case.

Brinson, of Hartford, and Dalmy, of Denver, were each sentenced to 36 months in prison. on April 13, 2017, and May 15 of this year, respectively.

On Sept. 27, 2017, Damian Delgado, also known as “Michael Neumann,” of Orlando, FL, was sentenced to 84 months in prison. On May 7, 2018, Brian Ferraioli, of Sayville, N.Y., and Thomas Heaphy, Jr., of East Moriches, N.Y., were each sentenced to 72 months in prison for their roles in this scheme and an unrelated investment fraud scheme.

Meissenn awaits sentencing, Durham said.

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