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Friday, April 19, 2024 | Back issues
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Recidivist Scammer Did It Again, Woman Says

SANTA MONICA (CN) - A recidivist stock scammer from Malibu blew off a court order and continued defrauding people in penny stock schemes, and took $150,000 from an elderly woman, she claims in a lawsuit alleging fraud and elder abuse.

Anne Cocke sued George A. Todt and his wife Laurie Scheer Todt, in Superior Court. Also sued are LimitlessOne LLC, Bluesky Systems Holdings Inc., and Supera Solutions Corp.

Cocke claims that George Todt, "a longtime friend," scammed her for $150,000 in two "loans," allegedly to buy Bluesky, a public penny stock company, and complete a reverse merger with Todt's company Supera.

Todt did this, she says, though he had been "barred from participating in offerings of penny stock."

Todt promised to repay the "loans" of $150,000, but did not, Cocke says, except for a bogus "bonus" payment of "worthless" shares of Bluesky stock.

Cocke says the Todts "never had any intention or reasonable prospect of repaying the loans," and have not made a single payment on them.

The Todts live in Malibu and run defendant LimitlessOne out of their house, Cocke says in the lawsuit. She claims that LimitlessOne "does not have any actual business operations and is a mere shell company used, owned and controlled by Mr. and Mrs. Todt."

Bluesky (BSKS), Cocke says, also is "a mere shell used and controlled by Mr. Todt and his associates to raise capital from unwitting investors and has no meaningful business operations of any kind." Cocke says Bluesky is publicly traded over the counter, but "has not made any of the disclosures required by SEC rules for approximately two years."

Cocke says Supera Solutions also is a "mere shell" that Todt uses as he will.

"Mr. Todt's years-long history of fraudulent business practices is well documented," Cocke says in the complaint. "In May 2005, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought a civil suit against Mr. Todt in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleging that Mr. Todt 'orchestrated two fraudulent schemes' to artificially inflate and manipulate the market in several public penny-stock companies. Mr. Todt profited by more than $800,000 by selling the stock at inflated prices.

"Mr. Todt failed to defend these allegations and the District Court entered a default judgment on November 18, 2005 against Mr. Todt and his companies ordering, inter alia, disgorgement of $1,207,398.02 and civil penalties of $130,000 (the 'SEC Judgment'). This judgment also enjoined Mr. Todt from 'participating in any offering of penny stock, including engaging in activities with a broker, dealer, or issuer for purposes of issuing, trading, or inducing or attempting to induce the purchase or sale of any penny stock.'

"The SEC judgment, however, did not stop Mr. Todt from continuing to engage in fraudulent schemes related to his various business entities, including penny stock companies. Mr. Todt continues to own and control several companies, without meaningful operations or revenue."

Cocke claims these companies include BSKS, LimitlessOne, Supera Technology, Supera Group, and Value Health Access Card. All of them "routinely use identical office addresses and phone numbers" and some of them "purport to operate out of the Todts' home," according to the complaint.

Cocke claims that Laurie Todt manages Supera Technology.

She claims the Todts "have used these companies as a mechanism to raise capital from unwitting investors in order to finance their personal lifestyles, including a $2 million Malibu home owned by Mr. and Mrs. Todt. To date, Mr. Todt has raised an undetermined amount of money in the form of investments and loans - likely in the millions of dollars - through promises of finalizing profitable deals for these companies and various sham transactions among these companies."

Cocke wants her $150,000 back, and damages for breach of contract, fraud, and financial elder abuse.

She is represented by Damion Robinson with Van Vleck Turner & Zaller, of Los Angeles.

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