The Securities and Exchange Commission, on Monday, received final judgments against divorce attorney Michael J. Woodford and securities lawyer Diane D. Dalmy, for defrauding transfer agents and brokerage firms.
The SEC charged Dalmy and Woodford in March with fraud for issuing false legal opinions on microcap stocks. Signed legal opinion letters help with the sale of stock on public trading platforms. Dalmy, who is currently in federal prison in Phoenix, Ariz., has been prohibited from issuing legal opinion letters for over-the-counter markets, or off-exchange trading, since 2009. According to a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court of Colorado, OTC Markets Group, owner of the largest trading system for microcap securities, banned Dalmy for submitting “inadequate” legal opinion letters.
She continued her scheme between 2014 and 2016 with Woodford by having him sign at least 85 opinion letters that she prepared. Woodford is not a securities lawyer, and the SEC says he failed to examine any of the documents.
The complaint highlights Dalmy’s run-ins with the law. In 2013, the SEC charged Dalmy in Illinois for participating in a pump-and-dump scheme.
“Dalmy’s role in the fraud was to prepare opinion letters falsely stating that she had performed due diligence and expressing the legal opinion that certain securities held by certain shareholders could be publicly traded … she had engaged in the offer or sale of unregistered securities,” stated the SEC in its complaint.
The commission permanently suspended Dalmy in 2016. Then, in 2018, the Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut charged Dalmy with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Dalmy pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison. She was later resentenced to five years when the government discovered Dalmy attempted to avoid restitution payments by hiding her money.
The latest judgment against Dalmy orders her to pay restitution and interest totaling $30,236 and a civil penalty of $86,718. She is also banned from providing legal services related to the exemption of federal securities to be registered. The court ordered Woodford to pay restitution plus interest totaling $29,762. Woodford’s payment was waived due to his financial situation.
