Ingen Technologies Inc.’s (OTC:IGNT) former CEO, Scott Sand, is headed to the slammer for his role in a plot involving the illegal manipulation of his company’s stock price.
The Yucaipa, Calif.-based medical device manufacturer named Tom Neavitt interim CEO to replace Sand and said current COO Gary Tilden will take over its day-to-day operations.
Ingen said Sand was its "driving managerial force" for several years and revealed that his exit could be a detriment to the company’s performance in a prepared statement released through the Securities & Exchange Commission website.
"Although the company has complete faith in the abilities of Mr. Tom Neavitt, Interim CEO and Mr. Tilden moving forward, it is likely the operations of the company’s subsidiary will be adversely affected now that Mr. Sand is incarcerated…" the company said.
Sand was last October charged “with engaging in a scheme to pay kickbacks to a pension fund fiduciary to induce the fiduciary to misappropriate money from a pension fund in order to buy restricted common stock at inflated prices,” according to Ingen’s filing with the SEC.
He plead no contest to one of two counts the Justice Dept. levied against him and made full financial restitution in this matter, according to the filing.
On April 13, Judge William Dimitrioleas of the U.S. District Court for Southern Florida sentenced Sand to one year and a day in prison with a fine of $4000.
Sand’s takedown was part of a larger sting operation that resulted in more than a dozen individuals being charged for their rolls in the kickbacks scheme. SEC officials charged penny stock promoters and their companies with securities fraud for their efforts to cause the volume and price of microcap stocks artificially fluctuate and illegally encourage stock sales through the payment of kickbacks, the SEC said.
The SEC worked with the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of Florida and the FBI. The individuals charged in the scheme thought they were paying-off corrupt pension fund managers, stockbrokers, or promoters, but they were actually undercover FBI agents or cooperating sources, according to the SEC.
Ingen in December halted its illegal actions, which resolved issues of liability against the company, but the company remains subject to the assessment of civil penalties and disgorgement by the court. Sand was, and still is, an affiliate stockholder of the company, according to the company’s filing with the SEC.
It is possible that portion of the court’s order on those civil penalties and disgorgements will involve payment of a amount sufficient to materially affect Ingen, the company said in the filing.
Sand is now barred from managing publicly reporting companies and involvement in the offer and sale of any penny stock. Disgorgement and civil penalty matters have not as yet been taken up by the court, because the SEC has not yet filed any motions regarding such actions.
Here’s the latest personnel changes from medical device, diagnostics and life science companies around the nation. For more recent hirings and firings, check out MassDevice’s compilation of the latest personnel moves.
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Clinquest Inc. is slated to get a new CEO. PLC Systems Inc. (OTC:PLCSF) revealed that CFO James Thomasch is leaving its ranks to take over as chief executive at the Hudson, Mass.-based company. Clinquest’s current CEO is founder and chief medical officer Dr. Cornelis Wortel, according to the company’s website. Thomasch’s last day at the Franklin, Mass.-based PLC Systems is May 2, according to the company. “Jim has been a talented and resourceful partner in our long-standing effort to remake PLC Systems into a new company around our RenalGuard technology. All of us so appreciate his diligence and acumen as we’ve faced a variety of challenges over the years,” CEO Mark Tauscher said in prepared remarks. - Globus Medical adds Daniel Lemaitre to board
Globus Medical Inc., the largest privately held spinal implant manufacturer in the world, announced it has appointed Daniel T. Lemaitre to serve as a member of the Company’s board.
Read more - Noel Doheny appointed CEO of US-Subsidiary Epigenomics Inc.
Epigenomics AG (ETR:ECX), the cancer diagnosis company, announced the appointment of Noel Doheny as the new CEO of its subsidiary Epigenomics Inc. in Seattle, Wash., reporting to Geert Nygaard, CEO of Epigenomics AG. Mr. Doheny will start in his new position in early May.
Read more - Frances Heller joins Adimab board
Adimab LLC announced that Frances Heller has been appointed to its board of directors. Ms. Heller is the executive VP of business development of Exelixis, Inc. (NSDQ:EXEL) and is an acknowledged life sciences business development leader, having led or participated in nearly 100 transactions over the course of her career.
Read more - Mersana Therapeutics hires new COO
Mersana Therapeutics, a platform-based cancer therapeutics company, announced that Michael Metzger has joined the company as executive VP & COO. In this role, he will oversee corporate and business development strategy and planning, as well as finance and other business operations of the company. Metzger was previously a senior member of the business development team at Forest Laboratories Inc., where he led the company’s M&A activities.
Read more - Urovalve taps Bent Johnsen for European managing director spot
Urovalve, a medical device company focused on creating superior products for urinary flow and control, announced the appointment of Bent Johnsen as European managing director, effective immediately. Most recently, he was CEO of PNN Medical, a company that specializes in minimally invasive medical devices for urology.
Read more - Dynasil hires Ruggieri for president
Dynasil Inc. named Steven Ruggieri as president of the Watertown photonics manufacturer for instruments, optical materials, coatings and components. He takes over the position from Craig Dunham, who is retiring from the role but will continue to hold a seat on the company’s board, writes MassHighTech.
Read more - Practice Fusion adds VP of marketing and senior bizdev director
Practice Fusion announced the addition of Paul Willard as VP of marketing and Liz Meyerdirk as senior director of business sevelopment. The news of the expanded executive team follows a $23 million Series B round of financing for the electronic health record (EHR) system, led by Founders Fund earlier this month.
Read more - Symmetry Medical centralizes management structure
Symmetry Medical Inc. (NYSE:SMA), an independent provider of products to the global orthopaedic device industry and other medical markets, announced a new management reporting structure that streamlines its operations in a matrix structure to strengthen quality and customer service. The company’s implant, instrument and case businesses will now report directly to Thomas Sullivan, president and CEO.
Read more - Klaus Radermacher joins ConforMIS SAB
Klaus Radermacher has joined the ConforMIS scientific advisory board to participate in the next stage of innovation for ConforMIS patient specific implants and instrumentation. Radermacher is chair of Medical Engineering at the Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
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