Florida Statutes 517.301 – Fraudulent transactions; falsification or concealment of facts
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(1) It is unlawful and a violation of this chapter for a person:
(a) In connection with the rendering of any investment advice or in connection with the offer, sale, or purchase of any investment or security, including any security exempted under s. 517.051 and including any security sold in a transaction exempted under s. 517.061, s. 517.0611, or s. 517.0612, directly or indirectly:
1. To employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud;
2. To obtain money or property by means of any untrue statement of a material fact or any omission to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; or
3. To engage in any transaction, practice, or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon a person.
Terms Used In Florida Statutes 517.301
- Boiler room: means an enterprise in which two or more persons in a common scheme or enterprise solicit potential investors through telephone calls, e-mail, text messages, social media, chat rooms, or other electronic means. See Florida Statutes 517.021
- Business entity: means any corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, proprietorship, firm, enterprise, franchise, association, self-employed individual, or trust, which may or may not be fictitiously named, doing business in this state. See Florida Statutes 517.021
- Dealer: includes , unless otherwise specified, a person, other than an associated person of a dealer, that engages, for all or part of the person's time, directly or indirectly, as agent or principal in the business of offering, buying, selling, or otherwise dealing or trading in securities issued by another person. See Florida Statutes 517.021
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Issuer: means a person that proposes to issue, has issued, or shall hereafter issue any security. See Florida Statutes 517.021
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- offer: means an attempt or offer to dispose of, or solicitation of an offer to buy, a security or interest in a security, or an investment or interest in an investment, for value. See Florida Statutes 517.021
- Office: means the Office of Financial Regulation of the commission. See Florida Statutes 517.021
- person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- Security: includes any of the following:(a) A note. See Florida Statutes 517.021
- Underwriter: means a person that has purchased from an issuer or an affiliate of an issuer with a view to, or offers or sells for an issuer or an affiliate of an issuer in connection with, the distribution of any security, or participates or has a direct or indirect participation in any such undertaking, or participates or has a participation in the direct or indirect underwriting of any such undertaking; except that a person is presumed not to be an underwriter with respect to any security which it has owned beneficially for at least 1 year; and, further, a dealer is not considered an underwriter with respect to any securities which do not represent part of an unsold allotment to or subscription by the dealer as a participant in the distribution of such securities by the issuer or an affiliate of the issuer; and, further, in the case of securities acquired on the conversion of another security without payment of additional consideration, the length of time such securities have been beneficially owned by a person includes the period during which the convertible security was beneficially owned and the period during which the security acquired on conversion has been beneficially owned. See Florida Statutes 517.021
- writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 1.01
(b) By use of any means, to publish, give publicity to, or circulate any notice, circular, advertisement, newspaper, article, letter, investment service, communication, or broadcast that, although not purporting to offer a security for sale, describes such security for a consideration received or to be received directly or indirectly from an issuer, underwriter, or dealer, or from an agent or employee of an issuer, underwriter, or dealer, without fully disclosing the receipt, whether past or prospective, of such consideration and the amount of the consideration.(c) In any matter within the jurisdiction of the office, to knowingly and willfully falsify, conceal, or cover up, by any trick, scheme, or device, a material fact, make any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation, or make or use any false writing or document, knowing the same to contain any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry.
(2) For purposes of this section, the term “investment” means any commitment of money or property principally induced by a representation that an economic benefit may be derived from such commitment, except that the term does not include a commitment of money or property for:
(a) The purchase of a business opportunity, business enterprise, or real property through a person licensed under chapter 475 or registered under former chapter 498; or
(b) The purchase of tangible personal property through a person not engaged in telephone solicitation, electronic mail, text messages, social media, or other electronic means where there are no specific representations or guarantees made by the offeror or seller as to the economic benefit to be derived from the purchase.
(3) It is unlawful for a person in issuing or selling a security within this state, including a security exempted under s. 517.051 and including a transaction exempted under s. 517.061, s. 517.0611, or s. 517.0612, to misrepresent that such security or business entity has been guaranteed, sponsored, recommended, or approved by the state or an agency or officer of the state or by the United States or an agency or officer of the United States.
(4) It is unlawful for a person registered or required to be registered, or subject to the notice requirements, under this chapter, including such persons and issuers who are subject to s. 517.051, s. 517.061, s. 517.0611, s. 517.0612, or s. 517.081, to misrepresent that such person has been sponsored, recommended, or approved, or that such person’s abilities or qualifications have in any respect been approved, by the state or an agency or officer of the state or by the United States or an agency or officer of the United States.
(5) It is unlawful and a violation of this chapter for a person in connection with the offer or sale of an investment to obtain money or property by means of:
(a) A misrepresentation that the investment offered or sold is guaranteed, sponsored, recommended, or approved by the state or an agency or officer of the state or by the United States or an agency or officer of the United States; or
(b) A misrepresentation that such person is sponsored, recommended, or approved, or that such person’s abilities or qualifications have in any respect been approved, by the state or an agency or officer of the state or by the United States or an agency or officer of the United States.
(6)(a) Subsection (3) or subsection (4) may not be construed to prohibit a statement that a person or security is registered or has made a notice filing under this chapter if such statement is required by this chapter or rules promulgated thereunder and is true in fact and if the effect of such statement is not a misrepresentation.
(b) A statement that a person is registered made in connection with the offer or sale of a security under this chapter must include the following disclaimer: “Registration does not imply that such person has been sponsored, recommended, or approved by the state or an agency or officer of the state or by the United States or an agency or officer of the United States.”
1. If the statement of registration is made in writing, the disclaimer must immediately follow such statement and must be in the same size and style of print as the statement of registration.
2. If the statement of registration is made orally, the disclaimer must be made or broadcast with the same force and effect as the statement of registration.
(7) It is unlawful and a violation of this chapter for a person to directly or indirectly manage, supervise, control, or own, either alone or in association with others, a boiler room in this state which sells or offers for sale a security or investment in violation of subsection (1), subsection (3), subsection (4), subsection (5), or subsection (6).