DENVER—The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a complaint accusing five men including a Florida pastor of selling $5.1 million in securities that didn’t exist.
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed its lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court.
It alleges Stanley W. Anderson, 63, of Arvada and Edwin A. Smith, 57, of Denver orchestrated the scheme through Trinity International Enterprises Inc. and CFO-5 LLC.
It alleges Michael D. Norton, 60, of Lakewood; Nicholas R. Fair, 61, of Fort Collins; and pastor Charles L. Kennedy, 66, of Tampa, Fla., solicited investors.
The SEC alleges that from April 2005 to July 2007, the defendants raised $5.1 million from at least 100 investors who were told their money would be invested in securities issued by European financial institutions with returns as high as 1,000 percent.
The defendants are accused of using the proceeds for other uses including personal expenses, loans or to pay other investors. All five also were accused of being unregistered broker-dealers.
Phone numbers for Trinity and CFO-5 could not be found. Other defendants did not return phone messages Tuesday or had unlisted phone numbers.
