Wound Management Technologies (OTC:WNDM) struck an agreement-in-principle to settle an SEC beef over an alleged kickbacks scheme run under former chairman, president & CEO Scott Haire.
The Fort Worth-based medical device company said the settlement would see it pony up $20,000 in fines and consent to a permanent injunction barring it from " the payment of undisclosed compensation to investment advisors, managers, and trustees or the manipulation of the price or volume of any security," according to a press release.
"We are pleased to have reached an agreement-in-principle with the SEC staff on this matter, which, if approved, will allow us to fully focus our attention and efforts on the business opportunities before us," CEO Robert Lutz Jr. said in prepared remarks.
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The proposed settlement must still be approved by the SEC and U.S. District Court for Southern Florida, which stayed the case against Wound Management pending the settlement, according to court documents.
The regulatory watchdog charged Haire and Wound Management in June with using kickbacks to illegally generate stock sales. Haire left the company completely in May, relinquishing his CFO role and board seat 2 months after stepping down as chairman & CEO. Wound Management said in August that it was negotiating a settlement with the SEC that did not involve or include Haire.
Haire and another defendant were charged with 10 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud, according to a superseding grand jury indictment filed against Haire Sept. 20. Haire was slated to be arraigned today in the southern Florida court, according to the documents.
