A district court in Hawaii has entered a final judgment against the chief executive of a religious-themed video game company, Left Behind Games, for a multimillion-dollar scheme to boost his company’s revenues with part of his stock-trading profits.
The SEC said Thursday that on Jan. 22, 2015, the district court for the District of Hawaii entered a final judgment against Ronald Zaucha, holding him liable for over $2.6 million in disgorgement, interest and penalties after granting the SEC's motion for summary judgment. Zaucha was also permanently enjoined from violating the antifraud and securities registration provisions of the federal securities laws, and permanently prohibited from participating in any offering of penny stock.
Last August the district court entered a final judgment against the company’s founder, Troy Lyndon, holding him liable for over $3.6 million in disgorgement, interest and penalties after granting the SEC's motion for summary judgment as to monetary relief. Lyndon had previously consented to entry of a permanent injunction prohibiting future violations of the antifraud, securities registration, issuer reporting, books and records, internal controls, lying to auditors and false certification provisions of the federal securities laws; an order permanently barring him from acting as an officer or director of a public company; and an order permanently prohibiting him from participating in any offering of penny stock, without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations.
On Sept. 24, 2013, the SEC had charged Lyndon and his friend Zaucha with scheming to falsely inflate the company's revenue by nearly 1,300 percent in the one-year period ended March 31, 2011 through sham circular transactions.
The SEC alleged that Lyndon, who served as the company's CEO and CFO, caused LBG to issue almost two billion shares of stock to Zaucha as purported compensation for consulting services to the California-based company. In fact, Zaucha provided few, if any, consulting services. The true purpose of the arrangement, according to the SEC, was to enable Zaucha to sell millions of unregistered LBG shares of stock into the market and then kick back a portion of his stock proceeds to the company in order to prop up its revenue at a time when it was in dire need of additional funds. The company's stock was suspended by the SEC when the SEC filed its complaint against Lyndon and Zaucha, and the registration of LBG's stock was revoked by the SEC on February 24, 2014.
