SEC v. Christopher R. Esposito, et al. (undisclosed control blocks, 2016)

Judgment entered

✓ Checked against the primary document on October 4, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, with sampled and disputed records read a second time. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.

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In May 2016 the SEC charged Cannabiz Mobile's control person Christopher Esposito, Lionshare Ventures, Cannabiz and others with hiding Esposito's control of the company. Final judgments, mostly by default and two by consent, were entered between January 2017 and February 12, 2024, when the SEC reported the litigation concluded as to all defendants.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$1.9m

Disgorgement

—

Prejudgment interest

—

Total relief

$1.9m

Alleged gain

—

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

the Securities and Exchange Commission announced this matter on May 26, 2016 as release LR-23545. The respondents named are Christopher R. Esposito, et al. (1 individual, 0 entities).

The complaint alleges that the owner of a business incubator misappropriated investor funds, then secretly controlled a publicly traded company through nominee officers, evaded Rule 144 by hiding that control, paid third-party promoters and sold millions of shares. The charges are Section 17(a), Section 10(b) and Section 5; no Section 17(b) or concealed-payment allegation is made, so the paid-promotion tag has been replaced with undisclosed control blocks and unregistered distributions.

This library tags the matter as undisclosed control blocks and unregistered distributions, based on the conduct the regulator describes. Each tag links to a page explaining how that technique works, what statute it engages, and what penalties comparable actions have attracted. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

The conduct is recorded against equities.

For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the release.

SEC releases show the case ended defendant by defendant. Final default judgments were entered against Gondolfe and Cannabiz on January 27, 2017 (civil penalties of $160,000 and $775,000), against Lionshare Ventures on April 14, 2017 ($775,000 penalty), and against Esposito on April 30, 2018 ($160,000 penalty, with disgorgement and prejudgment interest of $1,107,413 jointly with Lionshare). Galizio consented to a judgment on December 11, 2017 (disgorgement of $22,500 and a $7,500 penalty) and Pignatello consented to one on February 12, 2024, when the SEC said the litigation was concluded as to all defendants. The penalty field adds the penalties listed above. Disgorgement and prejudgment interest are reported as combined totals for most defendants and are not split on this page. Pignatello's $43,337 was deemed satisfied by a forfeiture order in a parallel criminal case in which he pleaded guilty. Bars on Gondolfe, Esposito and Pignatello bar them as officers or directors and from penny-stock offerings. Judgments entered by default are not contested findings. Checked on 2026-10-04.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with 2 techniques in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

• Undisclosed control blocks — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.
• Unregistered distributions — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2016-05-26 Litigation release published
2. 2017-01-27 Final default judgments against Gondolfe and Cannabiz (SEC LR-23730)
3. 2017-04-14 Final default judgment against Lionshare Ventures (SEC LR-23807)
4. 2018-04-30 Final default judgment against Esposito (SEC LR-24123)
5. 2024-02-12 Final judgment by consent against Pignatello; litigation concluded as to all defendants (SEC LR-25941)

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

• SEC litigation release
• SEC LR-23730 (Gondolfe and Cannabiz)
• SEC LR-23807 (Lionshare)
• SEC LR-24123 (Esposito and Galizio)
• SEC LR-25941 (Pignatello; case concluded)

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Same matter

The library links these 2 records because they appear to concern one matter: the same lead defendant, an overlapping technique tag and close filing dates, or a shared court docket or a release that cites the other. Records are listed by date filed.

This grouping is the library's, made by matching names, techniques, dates and citations when the site is built. It is not the regulator's or a court's determination that the records are one case, and it errs towards missing a link rather than making a false one.

Related actions

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.