Perhaps drawn in by the "Berkshire" name, 265 individuals in the U.S. and Canada invested some $15.5 million in fraudulent unregistered securities.  Yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana entered separate Final Judgments of against defendants David Rose, Jason Rose, and Mark Long, along with relief defendants Brian Rose and Joyce Rose.

The SEC's 6/8/09 complaint alleged that, among other things, from at least April 2006 through December 2007, the Roses used Berkshire Resources, LLC to carry out an offering fraud and sell unregistered securities.  While Jason Rose served as the public face of the company, father David Rose, who had an extensive disciplinary history, ran the company behind the scenes.  The SEC also charged Berkshire with misleading defendants, among other things, about the use of investor proceeds, the experience of Jason Rose, David Rose's role at the company, and the expected rate of return.  It's further alleged that Long, the head of sales at Berkshire, ran one of 2 "boiler room" operations that used teams of sales agents to sell units of participation to the public.

    Judgment of the Court.   The father David Rose was ordered to pay nearly $16 million in disgorgement, prejudgment interest and civil penalties.  The son Jason Rose was ordered to pay over $317,000 in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties.  Mark Long was ordered to pay $590,000 in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties.  All three were barred from the industry. 

Relief defendants Brian and Joyce Rose were ordered to pay a combined total of $638,000 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest.   [SEC Litigation Rel. 21642, 9/3]