State steps in on unregistered securities

Commissioner of Securities David B. Cosgrove recently issued cease and desist orders against two companies offering unregistered securities to Missouri investors.

Cosgrove issued a cease and desist order Dec. 1 against Save the Planet Energy Corp. a.k.a. Save the Planet USA Co.; Krystal Planet Corp.; and Krystal Energy Corp. – a Delaware corporation based in Lenexa, Kan., as well as Troy Helming and Alysia Carlson Helming, of Lenexa.

The order alleges the company violated state law by offering and selling unregistered, nonexempt securities to Missouri residents, as well as omitting facts and making false statements in selling these investment products, according to a news release from Secretary of State Robin Carnahan’s office.

Operating on referral-based marketing, Krystal Energy claimed to use investor funds to build energy-generating wind turbines, but no turbines were built and investors never received the principal or interest on their investments.

On Dec. 15, Cosgrove issued a final cease and desist order against Brown Associates International; International Financial and Investment Advisors; and Ted Brown a.k.a. T.R. Brown, of Arizona.

In the order, Cosgrove found that Brown Associates International et al. offered a high-yield investment program that claimed to have no risk with a return of 90 percent per week.

Claiming to be a “private placement program” established by a trading group and facilitated by a “recognized” bank, the company failed to disclose the number of previous investors who had received the high returns promised, or the name of the bank or trading group that was to generate those returns.

Cosgrove also noted that the company misrepresented the risk of the investment. The firm is now prohibited from offering or selling high-yield investments in Missouri.