WASHINGTON: The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against a Texas man for allegedly making a fraudulent offer to invest $200 million in Virgin Orbit, the agency announced.
“The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Dallas-Fort Worth resident Matthew Brown and his company, Matthew Brown Companies, LLC, for engaging in a fraudulent scheme to submit and publicly tout a bogus offer to invest US$200 million in Virgin Orbit Holdings, Inc.,” the release said on Monday, reported Sputnik.
The SEC’s complaint states that on March 19, 2023, Brown submitted an unsolicited investment offer as Virgin Orbit was on the brink of bankruptcy. Brown allegedly sent Virgin Orbit a fake screenshot of his company’s bank account purporting to show a balance of over US$182 million when the bank account had less than US$1.
Brown also allegedly told Virgin Orbit that he had a law degree from Southern Methodist University, when he had never graduated from college, the release said.
According to the SEC, Brown’s offer was leaked to the media and spurred Virgin Orbit’s stock price to rise approximately 33.1 per cent.
Brown also appeared on national television on March 23, 2023 to talk about his offer and falsely portray himself and his company as experienced venture capitalists with stakes in some 13 space companies. According to the SEC, Brown had a negative net worth at the time and no past or present holdings in the space industry.
The deal quickly broke down since Brown had nothing to invest and Virgin Orbit filed for bankruptcy on April 4, 2023, the release noted. – BERNAMA-SPUTNIK
