Washington D.C., Nov. 15, 2018 —
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged
Giga Entertainment Media Inc. and five of its former officers and
directors—Gary Nerlinger, Jarret Streiner, Lawrence Silver, Alfred
Colucci, and Charles Noska—with fraud in connection with a scheme to
mislead investors.
According to the SEC’s complaint, between February and August 2016,
the company bought at least 559,662 downloads from outside marketing
firms to boost the profile of the company’s mobile app, SELFEO. These
firms provided Giga with a shortcut to propel its app to the top of the
Apple Store download rankings. But instead of disclosing the real cause
of the app’s artificial meteoric rise, the company misled its
shareholders into believing that this success was due to traditional
marketing tactics like billboards and radio advertisements. The
complaint alleges that when the company stopped paying for downloads in
August 2016, the app’s rankings on the Apple Store plummeted. Rather
than come clean about the fact that the spike in downloads was a result
of paid download campaigns, the company, Nerlinger, Streiner, and
Colucci lied and told shareholders that the number of downloads
continued to grow at the same high rate. Further, Nerlinger, Silver,
Colucci, and Noska lied and falsified documents to conceal Nerlinger’s
role as Giga’s de facto CEO to prevent the investors from discovering
his prior criminal conviction for mail fraud.
“Exposing Giga’s fraud should remind companies that they cannot buy a
crowd and then claim to be popular,” said Melissa R. Hodgman, Associate
Director of Enforcement. “Tech companies can buy clicks or employ other
new marketing tools to improve their on-line image, but they have to be
honest with investors when touting the fruits of such efforts.”
Without admitting or denying the findings, Giga, Nerlinger, Silver,
Colucci, Noska, and Streiner consented to the entry of an SEC order
finding that they violated the antifraud provisions, and a finding that
Giga violated registration provisions of the federal securities
laws. Colucci and Noska each agreed to a $25,000 penalty, and Streiner
agreed to a $15,000 penalty. The court will determine what penalty
Silver will pay and what disgorgement and penalty Nerlinger will pay. In
addition, Nerlinger, Silver, and Colucci each agreed to a permanent
officer and director bar, and Streiner agreed to a five-year bar.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Christopher R. Mathews and
Edward B. Gerard and supervised by J. Lee Buck II in the Washington, DC
headquarters. Nicholas A. Pilgrim will serve as the trial attorney.
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