Vegas man denies SEC charges

Friday, May 17, 2002 | 10:54 a.m.

Las Vegas businessman Larry Stockett, accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of defrauding investors out of $1.37 million, disputed the SEC's claims.

Stockett ran Hightec Inc. and associated companies. The SEC claims he lied to investors to induce them to buy Hightec stock, inflated the stock price with lies and then sold 8 million shares of stock, generating illicit profits of about $804,687. He's also accused of misappropriating $569,505 in investors' funds for his personal use.

But Stockett denied the SEC's claims that he ran a scheme to inflate the stock price and then sell the stock.

"All of the money received ... was either reinvested into the company, used to repurchase Hightec stock or used to pay expenses for operating Hightec and its subsidiaries," he said.

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