SEC Charges Giga Entertainment Media, Former Officers and Directors With Fraud in Pay-For-Download Campaign

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.