SEC Details Penny Stock Charges Against Company That Uses Bob Marley Trademark

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced fraud charges on Tuesday against several men who backed Jammin' Java, a $78 million pump-and-dump scheme involving a company that operates as Marley Coffee and uses trademarks of late reggae artist Bob Marley to promote its products. The SEC alleges that former CEO Shane Whittle, along with three others who live abroad and operate entities offshore, utilized a reverse merger to secretly gain control of millions of Jammin Java shares. He then spread the stock to the offshore entities controlled by Wayne Weaver of the UK and Canada, Michael Sun of India, and Ren� Berlinger of Switzerland according to the SEC. After allegedly pumping the stock price up the following fraudulent promotional campaigns, they dumped the shares on an unsuspecting public.