SEC Slaps Hand of Coal Company

WASHINGTON – The SEC claims in court that Dickson Lee fraudulently misrepresented that he had a professional management team running L&L Energy, of China and Taiwan, though he ran it all along.     The Department of Justice is prosecuting Lee criminally in a parallel action, the SEC said in a statement Thursday.     “This action arises out of a fraudulent scheme by L&L Energy and Dickson Lee to create the appearance that L&L was run by a professional management team and conceal Lee’s single-handed control of the company,” the SEC said in its administrative cease and desist order.     “L&L Energy is a Seattle-headquartered coal company with all of its operations in China and Taiwan. At all relevant times, it was led by Dickson Lee, its current Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. From approximately August 2008 to June 2009, L&L and Lee repeatedly and fraudulently misrepresented to the public that it had certain persons serving in critical executive management roles at the company when, in reality, those persons served in no such roles.”     The SEC seeks disgorgement and fines and wants Lee barred from acting as an officer or director of a publicly traded company. It also wants Lee, who is a CPA, barred from practicing before the SEC.