SEC Obtains Partial Asset Freeze of Proceeds in Alleged Fraudulent Touting Scheme

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed fraud charges in a scheme to inflate the share price of an Israeli medical marijuana company’s common stock. The court today entered a partial asset freeze of the proceeds of the alleged fraud. The SEC’s complaint, which was filed on March 5 in federal district court in Denver, alleges that Colorado resident Jeffrey O. Friedland touted OWC Pharmaceutical Research Corp. while misrepresenting both his own investment in OWC and the true nature of his professional relationship with the company. As alleged in the complaint, Friedland was compensated with more than five million OWC shares for handling the company’s media and investor relations efforts.