WASHINGTON – In a stark reminder of corporate corruption at its worst, the CEO of Axius Inc. and a finance professional were indicted today on multiple charges for their alleged roles in a scheme to bribe stock brokers and manipulate the share price of Axius stock, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch for the Eastern District of New York.
Roland Kaufmann, a 60-year-old Swiss citizen and the CEO of Axius, and Jean-Pierre Neuhaus, a 55-year-old Swiss citizen and finance professional, were each charged in an indictment filed today in the Eastern District of New York with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and to violate the Travel Act, one count of securities fraud, one count of wire fraud, one count of violating the Travel Act, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of money laundering.
“As CEO of Axius, Mr. Kaufmann allegedly conspired with Mr. Neuhaus to fraudulently manipulate the value of his company’s stock,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer. “According to today’s indictment, he attempted to bribe stock brokers into artificially propping up the value of Axius stock. With our partners in the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is pursuing a nationwide effort to investigate and prosecute fraudulent conduct in our securities markets.”
“Rather than rely on the market to set the true value of Axius’ stock, the defendants allegedly sought to buy the best price possible through bribery and deception,” said U.S. Attorney Lynch. “Their scheme stood to enrich themselves at the expense of the investing public. We will vigorously investigate and prosecute any such corruption in the securities markets.”
The indictment alleges that Kaufmann and Neuhaus enlisted the assistance of an individual they believed to have access to a group of corrupt stock brokers; this individual was in fact an undercover law enforcement agent. Kaufmann and Neuhaus instructed the undercover agent to direct brokers to purchase Axius shares that were owned or controlled by Kaufmann in return for a secret kickback of approximately 26 to 28 percent of the share price.
Kaufmann and Neuhaus allegedly instructed the undercover agent as to the price the brokers should pay for the stock, and Kaufmann specifically instructed the undercover agent that the brokers would have to pay gradually higher prices for the shares they were buying. The indictment alleges that Kaufmann and Neuhaus directed the undercover agent that the brokers were to refrain from selling the Axius shares they purchased on behalf of their clients for a one-year period. By preventing sales of Axius stock, Kaufmann and Neuhaus allegedly intended to maintain the fraudulently inflated share price for Axius stock.
Axius is incorporated in Nevada and its principal offices are in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Axius is a “holding company and business incubator” that develops other businesses.
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