[ by Howard Haykin ] The SEC Monday charged several penny stock companies and their officers, along with 3 penny stock promoters for their involvement in various stock schemes in which bribes and kickbacks were paid to hype microcap stocks and illegally generate stock sales.  The schemes were conducted in Southern Florida. These charges are the latest in a series of cases in which the SEC has worked closely with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida and the FBI to uncover penny stock schemes.  Prior charges were filed by the SEC against other penny stock violators in October 2010, December 2010, and June 2011. SEC Findings and Allegations. Some of these latest schemes involved the payment of undisclosed kickbacks to a pension fund manager in exchange for the fund's purchase of restricted shares of stock in the various microcap companies.  Other schemes involved an undisclosed bribe that was to be paid to a stockbroker who agreed to purchase a microcap company's stock in the open market for his customers' discretionary accounts.

"The company officers and promoters in many of these schemes disguised their kickbacks as payments to phony consulting companies that performed no actual work.  These illegal activities were fully intended to artificially inflate the stock volume and prices of these penny stock companies to the detriment of investors." -- Eric Bustillo, Director of SEC Miami Regional Office.

Identified Penny Stock Companies and Individuals.

• Angel Acquisition Corp. (AGEL) based in Carson City, NV, and Carlsbad, CA - nka Biogeron Inc.
• President, CFO Harold Steven Bonenberger.

• Clean Coal Technologies Inc. (CCTC) based in NYC.
• President, CEO Douglas Hague.

• Cotton & Western Mining Inc. (CWRN) based in Humble, TX.
• President, CEO Robert Cotton.

• Delivery Technology Solutions Inc. (DTSL) based in Boca Raton, FL.
• CEO, Chairman Ryan Coblin.

• Optimized Transportation Management Inc. (OPTZ) based in San Antonio, TX.
• CEO Kevin Brennan.
• OPTZ stock promoter Marc Page.
• OPTZ stock promoter Donald Huggins.

• Sure Trace Security Corp. (SSTY) based in Phila., PA.
• Chairman, former president Michael Cimino.
• President Joseph Repko.

• US Farms Inc. (USFM) based in San Diego and Fallbrook, CA.
• President, CEO Yan Skwara.

• Wound Management Technologies Inc. (WNDM) based in Fort Worth, TX, and Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
• President, CEO, Chairman Scott Haire.

Additional SEC Charges. The SEC additionally charged a stock promoter involved in pumping the stock of KCM Holdings Corp., a penny stock company charged in the SEC's series of penny stock enforcement actions in June 2011.  The SEC alleges that Matthew Connor participated in a fraudulent scheme to hype KCM Holding's stock. Concurrent Criminal Charges. The U.S. Attorney's Office today announced criminal charges against the same individuals facing SEC civil charges. SEC Charges, Sanctions Sought. The SEC alleges that these companies, officers, and stock promoters violated Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC seek financial penalties, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest, and permanent injunctions against all the defendants.  The SEC also seeks penny stock bars against each of the officers and promoters as well as officer-and-director bars against Bonenberger, Brennan, Cimino, Hague, Haire, and Skwara. SEC Miami Staff Credits. Investigation by senior counsels Trisha Sindler and Michelle Bougdanos, supervised by Assistant Regional Director Chedly Dumornay.  Litigation will be led by Ian Anderson, Edward McCutcheon, and James Carlson. For further details, go to:   [SEC PR 12-108, 6/4/12].