North Fulton Man Convicted In Investment Fraud Scheme

ALPHARETTA, GA — Two metro Atlanta men were recently convicted on federal charges of manipulating the market for shares of a publicly traded company and implementing another plan where they created a new business as "bait" for investors, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia said.

Marc E. Bercoon, 57, of Atlanta, and William A. Goldstein, 54, of Alpharetta, were convicted by a jury on 12 counts each of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, and securities fraud related to their actions. Both defendants were remanded into custody after the verdict was handed down.

“These defendants manipulated the stock of a publicly traded company by carrying out two schemes,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “The defendants made over $2.5 million off the backs of many unwitting investors who bought while the stock price was artificially high due to the defendants’ rigging the market. At the same time, Bercoon and Goldstein ripped off investors in a separate, private company, by selling them shares based on lies and false pretenses. The jury’s verdict vindicates the victims and emphasizes the seriousness of securities fraud involving publicly traded companies.”

According to federal prosecutors, from July 2009 to September 2011, Bercoon and Goldstein conspired with a third defendant, Peter P. Veugeler, and others to manipulate the market for shares of MedCareers Group, Inc., a company quoted on the over-the-counter bulletin board under the ticker symbol MCGI.

The conspiracy culminated in two so-called “pump and dump” moves carried out in March and May 2010 where Bercoon and Goldstein arranged for the company to issue misleading press releases and SEC filings while co-conspirators distributed emails touting MedCareer's stock. While the price of MCGI and the demand for the stock were both artificially high following these efforts, the defendants orchestrated a sell-off of their stock, coordinating activity with accounts in the names of other people and entities to hide their involvement.

Between May 2009 and June 2010, Goldstein and Bercoon also carried out another investment fraud involving a privately held company. The pair created Find.com Acquisition, Inc. and solicited investments from dozens of individuals. They told investors, and induced brokers working for them to tell investors, that their funds would be used to develop a new internet search engine named Find.com.

The two defendants used the bulk of more than $1.5 million raised from investors for unrelated purposes, such as subsidizing other business ventures and making payments to themselves and their family members. In fact, more than $550,000 of the $1.5 million invested in Find.com Acquisition, Inc. was simply withdrawn from the bank in cash shortly after being invested, according to prosecutors.

As part of the scheme, investors were provided with written offering materials. Along with claiming that investments would be used to improve the Find.com search engine business, the written materials also said that investors were being offered the opportunity to buy stock at a price of $1/share, and that no more than 12.5 percent of investments would go toward commissions.

Despite these representations in the written offering materials, Bercoon and Goldstein sold stock to some investors at heavily discounted prices without informing other investors and paid commissions of 30 to 40 percent to brokers on some investments. The charges stem from an investigation conducted by the FBI in which court-authorized wiretaps were used to intercept telephone conversations.

Veugeler, 49, of Windermere, Florida, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud and testified at trial. Bercoon and Goldstein are scheduled to be sentenced at 9 a.m. May 30 and May 31. Veugeler's sentencing has not been scheduled.

The case is being investigated by the FBI. The Atlanta Regional Office of the SEC, the Los Angeles Regional Office of the SEC, and the Criminal Prosecution Assistance Group of FINRA also aided in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alana R. Black, Stephen H. McClain, and Kamal Ghali are prosecuting the case.

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