SEC v. Christopher R. Esposito, et al. (undisclosed control blocks, 2017)

Judgment entered

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In 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission published a release announcing it had obtained a default judgment against Lionshare Ventures, LLC in a case alleging misappropriation and concealed control of a publicly traded company. This library classifies the conduct as undisclosed control blocks and unregistered distributions. The release records a civil penalty of $775,000.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$775k

Disgorgement

—

Prejudgment interest

—

Total relief

$775k

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 April 14, 2017 as release LR-23807. The respondents named are Lionshare Ventures, LLC (0 individuals, 1 entity). The action was brought in the U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts.

The release reports a default judgment against Lionshare Ventures, the incubator at the centre of the scheme, enjoining it from Section 5, Section 17(a) and Section 10(b) violations and ordering $1,107,413 in disgorgement and interest together with a $775,000 penalty. The underlying allegations are misappropriation and concealed control of Cannabiz Mobile; paying promoters is described only as one step, 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.

The relief recorded in our data is a civil penalty of $775,000. Penalty and disgorgement are distinct: disgorgement returns the gain, while the penalty is punitive. We store them separately so that aggregate figures across the library are not double-counted.

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.

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. 2017-04-14 Litigation release published

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

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.

Related actions

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

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.