LOS ANGELES, California
A Beverly Hills executive and a stock newsletter analyst have been charged with conspiring to tout securities in exchange for money, it has been revealed.
Amit Raj Beri, 47, of Hobe Sound, Florida, and Jonathan William Mikula, 38, of Woodstock, Georgia, who worked as a stock analyst and writer for an investment newsletter, have been charged with conspiracy to tout securities for undisclosed compensation.
According to an information filed January 30 in United States District Court, Mikula worked as an analyst for ‘Palm Beach Venture,’ an investment newsletter with subscribers nationwide.
From December 2019 to August 2022, in exchange for Mikula touting certain securities issuances through ‘Palm Beach Venture,’ Beri and others provided Mikula and Fernandez with both cash payments as well as undisclosed, indirect compensation, including lavish meals, beverages, and other illicit entertainment.
The conspiracy allowed some of its participants to raise tens of millions of dollars in investor funds through securities offerings described and promoted by ‘Palm Beach Venture’ without required disclosures that such promotions had been obtained via direct and indirect payments to Mikula.
For example, in March 2020, Mikula caused to be published an article in ‘Palm Beach Venture’ entitled, ‘Curing Incurable Diseases and Giving Us Over 4,900% Potential Gains.’ The article touted Emerald Health Pharmaceuticals (EHP), a San Diego-based life sciences company and falsely stated that neither the newsletter nor its affiliates had received compensation and that ‘as publishers of financial information, we make general recommendations based on our own analysis.’
In total, Mikula, Fernandez, Beri, and others received more than $4.2 million in undisclosed and misrepresented payments as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars of compensation in the form of undisclosed entertainment and illicit services.
Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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