It’s rare for a federal district court judge to toss a jury verdict, and rarer still for that to happen in the conservative Eastern District of Virginia. So we took note when we learned that Judge Anthony Trenga had overturned a verdict in a criminal fraud case involving two promotional seminar speakers who sold a program that claimed to teach people how to trade stocks.
David Gengler and Linda Woolf, both of Utah, were independent contractors hired by the Whitney Informational Network to speak at three-day “Teach Me To Trade” conferences. Gengler and Woolf received commissions for selling courses that ranged in price from $3,000 to $40,000. Following a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of the company, federal prosecutors brought suit against Gengler and Woolf, alleging they lied about their success in trading stocks in company-produced infomercials and at seminars, and also misrepresented the likelihood of success for customers who purchased the “Teach Me To Trade” product. On May 7, following a four-week trial, the defendants were found guilty of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and having committed wire fraud by a federal jury.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
