SEC v. St. Julien, et al.
DOCKET · 1:16-cv-02193 · FILED · MAY 3, 2016
Violations Charged
Antifraud provisions, broker-dealer registration
Case Overview
ForceField Energy's executive chairman, Richard St. Julien, orchestrated three overlapping schemes to manufacture demand for the company's Nasdaq-traded stock. Registered brokers took secret cash kickbacks for buying ForceField shares in their customers' accounts. A newsletter publisher was paid to tout the stock and then solicit his own subscribers without disclosing kickbacks of roughly 10% of what they invested. And unregistered promoters sold ForceField private placements at investment conferences on the same hidden terms.
The defendants concealed the payments by routing them through an offshore nominee company and communicating over burner phones and encrypted, self-deleting messaging apps. One promoter touted the stock on national business television as a supposedly independent commentator while serving, undisclosed, as ForceField's head of investor relations. The FBI arrested St. Julien in April 2015, and the SEC's civil case charged ten defendants.
Joe's Role
The SEC's press release announcing the charges names Joe among the staff who conducted the investigation.
Outcome
St. Julien was charged criminally before the civil case was filed, and the other defendants faced criminal charges in 2016. The civil matter resolved defendant by defendant through consent judgments and defaults, with the last final judgments entered in December 2024.
ISSUERS · ForceField Energy, Inc. (FNRG)