SEC Charges Former Company Executive with Fraud for False Disclosures About Management

The SEC alleges that Tom Simeo, a resident of New York City, New York, created the false impression to the public that Viking had an experienced financial professional involved in its operations and financial reporting as its CFO, when in reality, the Company had no CFO. According to the complaint, between November 2014 and May 2016, Viking’s public filings falsely disclosed that Guangfang “Cecile” Yang was Viking’s CFO. In addition, as alleged, certain SOX certifications accompanying these filings falsely represented that Yang, as Viking’s CFO, had performed an evaluation of the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting and reviewed Viking’s annual and quarterly reports. The SEC alleges that Simeo created the false appearance that Yang served as CFO by repeatedly affixing Yang’s signature to Viking’s periodic reports and SOX certifications. The SEC alleges that, aside from Yang’s purported signatures on Viking’s filings, there is no evidence that Yang functioned as the Company’s CFO from at least November 2014 through Yang’s purported resignation in July 2016.

via Tom Simeo (Release No. LR-24599; Sep. 17, 2019).