Charles Hooker pleads guilty to securities fraud conspiracy in the Petro America case

Charles Hooker pleaded guilty in federal court to his role in the alleged Petro America $7.2 million securities fraud conspiracy, which swindled thousands of investors in the United States and Canada.

Hooker, 50, admitted to taking part in a conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud. The feds say, “Hooker was a team leader who recruited investors and sold shares of stock for Petro America.”

Hooker and others sold the shares, claiming that Petro America was a profitable company with $284 billion in assets. However, the feds say Petro “had no oil, no realistic prospects for obtaining, transporting or storing large amounts of oil, no significant assets, no revenue and no employees other than the CEO.” (Read this October 2010 Pitch feature for more background on Petro.)

Hooker admitted that he knowingly sold unregistered shares of Petro stock.