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by Mike Caswell

Toronto's Andrew Hackett has appealed the permanent ban that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently won against him for the Arias Intel Corp. pump-and-dump. The SEC claimed that Mr. Hackett and others were behind a scheme to boost Arias Intel as a supposed social media listing. The men attempted to bribe brokers to buy the stock, but one of those they included in the scheme was co-operating with the government.

Mr. Hackett's appeal is set out in a brief notice filed on Dec. 2, 2024, in federal court in San Diego. It comes about three weeks after the SEC won the ban, with a judge entering an order on Nov. 18 that barred Mr. Hackett from penny stocks and from committing future violations. The order was handed down summarily (or without a trial), Mr. Hackett having previously been convicted on related criminal charges.

The appeal notice says little about Mr. Hackett's reason for appealing, but he previously claimed that there could be new evidence that could clear his name. He said that there were links between his case and a man called Alexander Smirnov, an FBI informant since charged for making false statements. Mr. Hackett has been seeking to review recorded conversations for any new information about Mr. Smirnov and about Mr. Smirnov's trading activity.

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