Holmdel Man Admits to Stock Market Fraud

Holmdel, NJ - A Holmdel penny stock trader admitted he artificially inflated the stock price of four publicly traded companies, all to line his pockets with up to $13 million, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman announced Tuesday.

Samuel DelPresto, 48, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Newark federal court to being part of a conspiracy to commit securities fraud. His LinkedIn profile says that he and his wife owned a line of yoga studios in the New York tri-state area.

DelPresto, under his company MLF Group, and others first obtained control over large blocks of the free trading shares of four public companies: BioNeutral Group Inc., NXT Nutritionals Holdings Inc., Mesa Energy Holdings Inc. and Clear-Lite Holdings Inc. Then, DelPresto “pumped” the price of those shares, either by aggressively trading them, or by sending out promotional materials, such as email blasts and newsletters, encouraging others to purchase the stock, federal attorneys say.

In order to get the stock price as high as possible, DelPresto’s conspirators would pay cash kickbacks to an investment adviser in Las Vegas to purchase the stock on behalf of his unwitting clients.

Once they had ”pumped” the stock up, DelPresto and others then “dumped” the shares, selling large volumes of them to buyers, the AG said. The companies’ stock price would then plummet, resulting in losses to the victims.

The scheme went on through 2008 through 2010,and netted the group approximately $33 million in profit total, of which DelPresto received approximately $13 million, feds allege.

His guilty plea carries a maximum five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for April 5. The SEC filed a civil suit against DelPresto after his guilty plea Tuesday.