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August 16, 2004
FORMER PRESIDENT OF PRONETLINK CORPORATION PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY IN $33 MILLION STOCK SCHEME
ICE’s “Operation High Roller” Results in Guilty Plea and Forfeiture of NYC Real Estate
NEWARK-- Jean Pierre Collardeau, the former president Pro Net Link Corporation, pleaded guilty today to conspiring with at least 12 other individuals to engage in an elaborate scheme to defraud investors of over $20 million, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.
Collardeau, 62, a French citizen who resides in New York City, entered his plea in U.S. District Court in before Judge William G. Bassler, who scheduled sentencing for Nov. 22.
The guilty plea stemmed from an investigation dubbed “Operation High Roller” that was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in conjunction with Canadian and Swiss authorities.
At his plea hearing, Collardeau admitted that he conspired with others to create Pro Net Link (PNLK) as a public company, and agreed with them to issue millions of shares of PNLK stock in the names of co-conspirators in order to conceal their scheme from the investing public.
Collardeau admitted that he secretly controlled millions of dollars worth of PNLK stock that was issued in the names of foreign nominees Nicole Peignier, Martine Meillot, Eric Niger, Muriel Prochasson, and foreign companies Able Investments, Ltd., Project Finance, Ltd., and Whitehall Investments. Collardeau also admitted that he issued a large block of PNLK stock to a fictitious identity, Robert Sambou, that was created in furtherance of the scheme. Collardeau admitted that issued shares were then deposited into nominee accounts in Canada, which he and his conspirators controlled.
Collardeau admitted that in March 1998, he and others entered into an agreement with Irving Freiberg and Irving Stitsky to tout PNLK to the investing public in order to spark interest and greater demand for the company's stock. Freiberg and Stitsky, were told by Collardeau, along with others, that they secretly controlled almost all the free-trading PNLK stock held in nominee names in brokerage accounts in Canada. Collardeau admitted that in return for their promotion, Freiberg and Stitsky were to receive a significant percentage of the profits from the sale of PNLK stock through the nominee accounts. He also admitted that this arrangement was concealed from the investing public through the creation and execution of a sham contract, wherein Freiberg and Stitsky purportedly were to receive only $50,000. Collardeau admitted that Freiberg and Stitsky ultimately received $5.8 million for their efforts.
Collardeau also admitted that in furtherance of the fraudulent scheme, and while under oath, he failed to disclose to the Securities Exchange Commission his partnership with two other unindicted co-conspirators, and the fraudulent nature of his activities. He also admitted that he and his co-conspirators filed false reports and forms with the SEC in order to conceal their fraudulent activities.
Collardeau admitted that ultimately in excess of $20 million was deposited into various nominee accounts and that he personally used some of those funds to purchase three New York housing units.
Collardeau pleaded guilty to Count One of the three-count Indictment which charges conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The conspiracy count carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gain received by the conspirators, a penalty that could be in far excess of $40 million. Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Under Sentencing Guidelines, defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.
As part of the plea agreement, Collardeau agreed to forfeit to the United States the three New York housing units, with a total estimated worth in excess of $3 million, and over $940,000 in cash. The forfeited properties and cash will be made available to defrauded investors.
Christie credited Special Agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge John Kelleghan in Philadelphia and Postal Inspectors of the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Postal Inspector in Charge Martin D. Phanco. Christie gave special acknowledgment to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, New York Regional Office, under the direction of Mark K. Schonfeld, Regional Director of the Commission's Northeast Regional Office; and the British Columbia Securities Commission; and the Federal Office of Justice, Swiss Central Authority; and the Office of International Affairs, Department of Justice.
The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mauro Wolfe, of the U.S. Attorney's Criminal Division in Newark.
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