Another day another scandal
hits the Democratic machine and this one stinks. A company co-founded by Paul
Pelosi Jr., Nancy Pelosi’s son, was just charged with fraud by the SEC and
other prominent Democrats are involved.
The company is called Natural
Blue Resources and it was a “green” investment fund, which makes sense because
the left has been trying to monetize the environmental movement for decades.
Remember Solyndra? That
one wasn’t a small hit to the U.S Treasury. From The Washington Times:
The Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) charged a company cofounded by Paul Pelosi Jr. with fraud on
Wednesday after learning that two convicted criminals were running the
business.
Paul
Pelosi Jr., the son of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), was the
president and chief operating officer of Natural Blue Resources Inc., an
investment company he cofounded that focuses on “environmentally-friendly”
ventures.
The
SEC charged four individuals with fraud, including former New Mexico Gov. Toney
Anaya, and suspended trading in the company’s stock. Pelosi owned over 10
million shares in the company in 2009.
The
SEC said Wednesday the company was “secretly controlled” by James E. Cohen and
Joseph Corazzi, both of whom had previous fraud convictions. Corazzi violated
federal securities laws and was barred from acting as an officer or director of
a public company. Cohen was previously incarcerated for financial fraud.
Cohen
and Corazzi said they were “outside consultants,” but according to the SEC,
they actually controlled Natural Blue’s business decisions “without disclosing
their past brushes with the law to investors.” The pair made hundreds of
thousands of dollars off the company.
“Cohen
and Corazzi concealed their involvement through a so-called ‘consulting’
agreement, but their influence over the issuer spread much further,” said
Andrew J. Ceresney, director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division. “Investors in
Natural Blue had a right to know who was running the company behind the
scenes.”
Cohen,
Corazzi, Anaya, and Erik Perry, a former executive at Natural Blue, were all
charged with federal fraud violations. Anaya, who was Governor of New Mexico
from 1983 to 1987, and Perry “misled investors by failing to disclose that
Cohen and Corazzi were running the company in spite of their criminal or
disciplinary histories,” the SEC said.
“Natural
Blue and its officers attempted an end-run around the rules designed to prevent
recidivists from getting their hands on the controls of public companies,” said
Paul Levenson, director of the SEC’s Boston Regional Office.
There
is some dispute over Paul Pelosi’s current connection to the company.
The
New Mexico Office of the Secretary of State Business Service Divisioncurrentlylists Natural
Blue as a company “not in good standing,” with Pelosi listed as
its president.
Pelosi cofounded
the company in 2009. The SEC said Natural Blue’s mission is to
“create, acquire, or otherwise invest in environmentally-friendly companies,
including an initiative to locate, purify, and sell water recovered from underground
aquifers in New Mexico and other areas with depleting water resources.”
According
to Bloomberg Businessweek, Pelosi served as president and chief
operating officer of Natural Blue Resources, Inc. until January 11,
2010. Joseph Montalto is listed as the current president.
However,
the Mountain View Telegraph cited Pelosi as Natural Blue’s
president last year, and Anaya was still leading the company as
chairman and CEO at this time.
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