SEC Ties Gold-Mining Shares to Empty Shell

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - A Foster City woman with multiple aliases sold nearly 2 billion shares in a supposed gold mining company in the Philippines, but ZNext Mining Corp. aka Pearl Asian Mining Industries is just an empty shell, the SEC claims in Federal Court. The SEC sued ZNext and Elvira Gamboa aka Pearl Asian aka Bae Katiguman.

Gamboa, 57, siphoned off more than $1 million from the unregistered shares, the SEC says. She is the founder, chairwoman and sole control person of ZNext.

"PAIM was formerly a subsidiary of First Canadian American Holding Corporation ('FCAH')," she SEC says. "FCAH spun off 59 wholly-owned subsidiaries from April 2002 to May 2004 through unregistered distribution of the subsidiaries' shares to FCAH shareholders. PAIM was spun off from FCAH in November 2003 and became controlled by Sandy Winick, FCAH's principal and controlling shareholder."

Winick has been sued by the SEC in Manhattan Federal Court. See the next story on the Courthouse News home page.

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