A U.S. District Court has shut down a Web site that impersonated a New Hampshire mutual fund company and promised investors 657% returns, the
The SEC obtained a temporary restraining order and asset freeze from New Hampshire District Court Judge Joseph DiClerico to halt all fraudulent activity by FairPax.com, FairPax Inc.
According to the complaint, the SEC stipulates that five unidentified individuals who ran the Web site misappropriated descriptions of the purported mutual funds offered by Pax World Funds. It accuses FairPax of taking verbatim descriptions of Pax Worlds high yield mutual fund without proper authorization and falsely identifying Laurence Shadek and Thomas Grant as its senior executives.
Shadek and Grant, the chairman and president, respectively, of Pax World have never sanctioned the phony Web site, the company said in a statement on Friday. "Any Web site other than our official site at www.paxworld.com that claims to be part of the Pax World Funds organization is a fraud," Grant said, in a prepared statement.
The SEC is seeking disgorgement of funds that FairPax took from investors along with a fine. A court date is scheduled for June 30, the Commission said.
