SEC v. Global Wholehealth Partners Corp., Charles Strongo, Brian M. Volmer, Joshua Yafa, Jamie M. Yafa, and Empire Associates, Inc. (paid stock promotion, 2022)
Alleged — pending
These are allegations. SEC has filed an action; nothing in it has been proven, and the respondents have not been found liable. Everything described on this page is what the regulator alleges, not what a court has found. See our editorial policy.
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.
In 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission brought an action against Global Wholehealth Partners Corp., Charles Strongo, Brian M. Volmer, Joshua Yafa, Jamie M. Yafa, and Empire Associates, Inc., alleging conduct this library classifies as paid stock promotion and pump and dump. No monetary relief has been recorded at this stage; the matter is an allegation and remains unproven. A parallel criminal matter is referenced in the release.
The record
| Agency | SEC |
|---|---|
| Release number | LR-25332 |
| Date filed | 2022-02-17 |
| Court | U.S. District Court, Southern District of California |
| Status | filed |
| Asset class | equities |
| Criminal parallel | Yes: charged, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, 2022-02-17 |
| Bars imposed | officer-and-director bar, penny stock bar |
| Defendants | Global Wholehealth Partners Corp. ; Charles Strongo ; Brian M. Volmer ; Joshua Yafa ; Jamie M. Yafa ; Empire Associates, Inc. |
| Cited as charged or alleged | Exchange Act s.10(b) and Rule 10b-5 ; Securities Act s.17(a) ; Securities Act s.17(b) |
| Techniques | Paid stock promotion , Pump and dump |
What was ordered
- Civil penalty
- —
- Disgorgement
- —
- Prejudgment interest
- —
- Total relief
- —
- Alleged gain
- $2m
What is alleged to have happened
the Securities and Exchange Commission announced this matter on February 17, 2022 as release LR-25332. The respondents named are Global Wholehealth Partners Corp., Charles Strongo, Brian M. Volmer, Joshua Yafa, Jamie M. Yafa and Empire Associates, Inc. (4 individuals, 2 entities). The action was brought in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of California.
This library tags the matter as paid stock promotion and pump and dump, 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.
Non-monetary relief recorded: officer-and-director bar, penny stock bar.
The release references a parallel criminal proceeding. Where a criminal case exists, the civil and criminal outcomes are recorded separately, because they resolve on different standards of proof.
This matter is at the allegation stage. Nothing in the regulator's filing has been proven, and the respondents are entitled to the presumption that it has not been. This page will be updated if the matter is resolved, dismissed or withdrawn.
Checked on 2026-10-04: no judgment found for the lead defendant, Global Wholehealth Partners Corp. The Southern District of California entered a final judgment as to co-defendant Charles Strongo on August 26, 2026: it bars him from serving as an officer or director of a public company and from penny stock offerings, and finds him liable for $278,822.92 in disgorgement plus $12,519.03 in interest, partly offset by $121,599.70 of criminal restitution, leaving $169,742.25 to pay. The document does not say whether he consented. We did not find outcomes for the company or the other defendants, so the record stays as filed.
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.
- Paid stock promotion — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.
- Pump and dump — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.
Timeline
- 2022-02-17 Litigation release published
- 2026-08-26 Final judgment as to co-defendant Charles Strongo
Primary documents
Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.
Related actions
Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.
| Action | Agency | Filed | Technique | Penalty | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEC v. Anthony Thompson, Jr., et al. (paid stock promotion, 2020) | SEC | 2020-12-30 | Paid Stock Promotion , Pump And Dump | — | judgment |
| SEC v. Brian Robert Sodi, et al. (newsletter scalping, 2019) | SEC | 2019-09-19 | Newsletter Scalping , Paid Stock Promotion +1 | — | settled |
| SEC v. Anthony J. Thompson, Jr., et al. (paid stock promotion, 2019) | SEC | 2019-02-01 | Paid Stock Promotion , Pump And Dump | — | settled |
| OSC v. David Tuan Seng Lim and Michael Mugford (pump and dump, 2018) | OSC | 2018-03-28 | Pump And Dump , Paid Stock Promotion | — | judgment |
| SEC v. Joe Yiu Cheung, a/k/a Dylon de lu Zhang (paid stock promotion, 2017) | SEC | 2017-08-02 | Paid Stock Promotion , Pump And Dump +1 | $150k | settled |
| SEC v. Jeffrey D. Martin, Thomas L. Tedrow and others (Mainstream Entertainment pump and dump, 2017) | SEC | 2017-08-01 | Pump And Dump , Paid Stock Promotion +2 | $142k | judgment |