Trenton Business Administrator Terry McEwen served as a member of the board of directors of 6D Global Technologies
TRENTON -- Trenton Business Administrator Terry McEwen, who served as a member of the board of directors of 6D Global Technologies, is among those named in a class-action lawsuit alleging federal securities laws violations against the company.
McEwen submitted his resignation from the board Oct. 5, just eight days before the lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan by Sixto Castillo IV.
McEwen declined to comment on Wednesday.
Two other board members who were also named as defendants have also resigned.
The suit seeks class-action status on behalf of investors who bought stock from 6D or its predecessor CleanTech Innovations, Inc. between Nov. 3, 2010 and Sept. 10, 2015.
The lawsuit charges the company with making false and misleading statements. It alleges that during the period involved, the 33 defendants -- a group that includes top executives and board members -- were engaged in a stock manipulation scheme and related party transactions and failed to disclose that 6D lacked internal controls.
McEwen was among those who signed off on three annual reports required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the lawsuit said. He signed Form 10-Ks for 2012, 2013 and 2014.
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The lawsuit comes after the September indictment of Benjamin Wey, the founder and CEO of New York Global Group who helped facilitate the reverse merger of 6D's predecessor, CleanTech.
Wey, who is also named in the lawsuit, is accused of fraudulently taking Chinese companies public in the United States through reverse mergers, a process that involves buying the shell of an American company that had been publicly listed. Federal prosecutors said he manipulated their shares to reap tens of millions of dollars in illegal profits.
CleanTech went public in 2010 but months later, was delisted by Nasdaq for failing to disclose a financing deal, according to an SEC complaint.
The decision was later reversed in July 2013. In October of that year, McEwen joined CleanTech's board of directors. A press release at the time called McEwen a "valuable addition ... especially during the difficult period of CleanTech's potential recovery from the impact of the company's wrongful delisting by Nasdaq."
In June 2014, CleanTech announced that it entered into a merger agreement with Initial Koncepts, Inc. and would become 6D. McEwen briefly served as interim chairman and CEO through the deal's closing, forms filed with the SEC show.
The lawsuit claims that 6D's lack of internal controls allowed Wey to control the company.
In September 2014, McEwen stepped down as the interim CEO and was reappointed to the board of directors. His last day with the board is Thursday.
Wey in an email called McEwen "an outstanding public servant and a business executive with high moral standards and integrity."
A separate private action brought by Discover Growth Fund in September was dismissed last Friday. U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel said the plaintiff had no probability of success on the merits of its case.
Editor's Note: This story was updated to include a comment from Wey and information on the separate action filed against 6D.
Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.
