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by Mike Caswell

Former Vancouverite Andrew Coldicutt has appealed the seven-year jail term that he received in California for a $5.95-million pump-and-dump scheme. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) Mr. Coldicutt is seeking to overturn the conviction and sentence handed down after he was arrested in an undercover FBI operation. Prosecutors said that he created a company to be used as a vehicle to commit fraud, lying and concealing information along the way.

Mr. Coldicutt's appeal is contained in a brief notice filed on Friday, July 11 (the same day he was sentenced). The notice says nothing about his grounds for appeal, simply stating that he is appealing the final judgment against him. His conviction arose after a five-day trial in which a jury convicted him on charges that included securities fraud and wire fraud. The judge then handed down the seven-year jail term.

The appeal comes as part of a case in which prosecutors cited Mr. Coldicutt, 45, for a scheme run through his San Diego law practice. They said that he helped set up a sham company with a puppet officer for an undercover FBI agent, who was posing as a hedge fund manager. He was also part of a recorded conversation in which the men discussed how to sell shares "without running an overly aggressive promotion that would attract too much attention."

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