Hologram f irm founder is f ined
Media entrepreneur Alki David and his company must pay the SEC to settle fraud allegations.
The Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a pair of judgments against British-Greek media entrepreneur Alki David and his company Hologram USA Networks Inc. for their roles in an alleged fraud scheme.
Under the terms of the settlement, announced Friday, David and Hologram must pay a civil penalty of $122,419 to the SEC. David is also prohibited from holding officer and director positions for a five-year period.
David launched his Hologram USA Theater in Hollywood three years ago, resurrecting a pantheon of dead stars from Billie Holiday to Bernie Mac on stage, calling it the “future of live entertainment.”
Almost from the start, however, the venture was embroiled in litigation with a rival hologram owner, Pulse Evolution Corp., over who owned the rights to the technology. The pair settled out of court.
In the SEC’s complaint, filed in September, David and his hologram company were charged with fraud, registration violations and misleading investors ahead of a planned IPO.
According to the suit, between November 2017 and March 2018, the company falsely claimed the exclusive rights to stage shows featuring Whitney Houston, Roy Orbison and Tupac Shakur. At the time, David denied the allegations and said he would fight them.
The complaint, amended in December, further alleged that David and Hologram USA “obtained more than $100,000 from investors, many of whom were not accredited, from the sale of securities of Hologram USA and its subsidiary in offerings that were not registered with the SEC.”
Once David and Hologram became aware of the SEC’s investigation, the complaint claims, “they notified investors that they would be refunded, but not all investors received refunds.”
David agreed to settle with the SEC without admitting to or denying the allegations.
David’s settlement with the SEC follows a raft of sexual assault and harassment lawsuits that he faced in 2019. Last year, juries rendered three verdicts against David, who has been accused of numerous acts of inappropriate behavior by former employees.