Gerova Ex-CEO has been sentenced in New York federal court to 78 months in prison. In addition to prison time, U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel also ordered the ex-CEO to serve one year of supervised release and forfeit about $19 million.
Gerova Ex-Ceo Convicted in Scheme
Last year in September, a jury convicted the Gerova ex-CEO Gary Hirst of securities fraud in connection with the illegal Gerova pump-and-dump scheme. According to prosecutors, the former executive secretly awarded nearly $72 million dollars of Gerova’s stock to himself and others. He did so by quietly taking control of nearly half of the company’s public float, cashing out after bribing investment advisers to buy shares for their own clients.
Prosecutors said, in total, the scheme generated nearly $20 million dollars of illegal profit. Of that, Hirst received a total of $2.62 million.
In a statement, acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said, “Hirst and his co-conspirators issued large amounts of stock, lied about their roles, and found other novel means to defraud the stockholders of Gerova Financial and the investing public.”
Gerova Scheme Involves Seven People
Hirst, 64, is one of seven people charged and sentenced over the Gerova pump-and-dump scheme. Former investment banker Jason Galanis, along with his father and two brothers also have been charged and sentenced. One defendant remains at large.
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