Oct. 25 (UPI) — The Justice Department has charged a Hawaiian couple, who are president and CEO of luxury submarine tour company Semisub Inc., with selling fake securities for their company and defrauding investors of millions of dollars.
Married couple Curtiss E. Jackson, 69, of Honolulu, Hawaii, and Jamey Denise Jackson, 59, who are CEO and president respectively, were charged with securities fraud, mail fraud and wire fraud, the Justice Department said Tuesday in a news release.
They are accused of misleading investors in Semisub securities, acquiring an estimated $28 million.
In August, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against Semisub, alleging it raised $4.7 million from more than 100 investors across the United States by selling fake securities. The company claimed to be producing a fleet of semi-submersible vessels, which it would use for tours around Hawaii.
The latest allegations suggest as many as 400 investors were defrauded by the Jacksons. Meanwhile, they are accused of misusing a significant portion of those funds to pay for luxury homes, cars, vacations, psychics, marijuana, credit card bills and more.
The Jacksons were barred from selling securities in 2008 by the Pennsylvania Securities Commission and in 2009 by the California Department of Corporations, but they continued to sell to investors. They made their first appearances in court Monday.
If convicted, each charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Curtiss Jackson is still a resident of Hawaii, while Jamey Jackson resides in Lake Worth, Fla.
The case is under investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Internal Revenue Service. It will be prosecuted by Christopher Fenton, Matthew Reilly, and Blake Goebel of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
