On April 29, the SEC issued a public statement with the headline, "SEC Enforcement Director Statement on Jury Finding That CEO Defrauded Investors." I read it, because that is what I do, and I in turn wrote about the case here with the headline, "2016 SEC trial scorecard update: agency moves to 4-0 in trial verdicts."  Other lawyerly publications like the excellent SEC Actions blog also weighed in on the case, with headlines such as "SEC Prevails In Jury Trial Against Former CEO of Drug Firm."

Yesterday, however, the UK's Daily Mail weighed in on the case with a headline that shows the difference between pros like itself and the rest of us average Joes in the "click economy." What would you be more likely to click on--any of the headlines I note above or this one from the Daily Mail about the very same case:

"Vince Vaughn's stepfather found liable for misleading investors into sham goat's-blood derived miracle drug."

That's what I thought!

In case you are wondering, the Daily Mail reports that the defendant in the case, Immunosyn Corp. CEO Stephen Ferrone, is in fact married to Vince Vaughn's mother, Shea. The SEC alleged that Immunosyn Corp. misled investors about the regulatory status of a drug named SF-1019. SF-1019 was derived from goat blood and supposedly "had the potential to cure everything from HIV to multiple sclerosis."

Game, set and match to the Daily Mail for making SEC enforcement news hot!

Topics