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by Mike Caswell

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has won permanent bans and associated monetary sanctions against Benjamin Ballout and Mohamed Zayed, the men behind the pump-and-dump of Enerkon Solar International Inc. on the OTC Markets. The SEC claimed that the men ran a scheme in which Enerkon touted $320-million in supposed sales from a Canadian-made test for COVID-19. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) The scheme included a purported $28-million-a-month deal to sell the kits in the Dominican Republic.

The bans are contained in two judgments handed down in federal court in Florida on Wednesday, June 11. The judge has permanently barred both men from penny stocks. The men must also each pay a $460,928 fine, with the judge ordering Mr. Zayed to disgorge $96,000 in additional gains, plus interest. The judgments also include terms restraining the men from future violations. (Essentially, the judge has ordered them not to break the law.)

There was no trial for the men, as the judge previously found them liable for the scheme. The SEC cited them for touting a supposed quick COVID-19 test kit in 2021. According to the SEC, Mr. Ballout falsely claimed to have an order from an organization in the Dominican Republic for test kits, and issued a news release to that end. He continued touting the deal even after the Canadian distributor of the device told him that his news release was false and misleading, the SEC said.

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