$4.37-Million Repayment to Investors Ordered

A federal judge ordered a California businessman and two companies to repay $4.37 million plus interest to as many as 2,000 investors who bought stock in what securities officials said was an Internet banking scam. U.S. District Judge William Downes of Casper, Wyo., issued the judgment by default July 22 against Paul D. Catchings, chief executive of Compunomics 139 Inc., and First Zurich National USA, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement. They were accused of defrauding investors who had bought Compunomics stock since April 1995. The SEC alleged that Catchings largely targeted African Americans by selling Compunomics stock through their churches and misrepresented to investors the profit they could expect when the company completed a stock offering “in the near future.” The court found there was “no revenue from business activities. The only money coming in was from the sales of stock,” an SEC attorney said. Catchings, whose whereabouts are not known, was also ordered to pay a $100,000 civil penalty.