California Laser Settles Fraud Charges

California Laser Co., a Van Nuys-based holographic-imaging company that claimed to have an endorsement from actor James Doohan of “Star Trek” fame, has settled fraud charges, regulators said. The Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that California Laser and its founder, Nicholas Geranio, falsely told investors that Doohan endorsed the company. California Laser and Geranio used that claim and high-pressure, boiler-room telemarketing sales to raise more than $2.3 million between 1998 and 1999 from about 500 investors nationwide, the SEC said. In settling the SEC case, Geranio and the company neither admitted nor denied the allegations. Geranio, of Woodland Hills, and the company agreed not to violate fraud and securities registration laws in the future. Neither Geranio nor a lawyer representing California Laser could be reached for comment. A Los Angeles federal court also ordered Geranio and California Laser to pay back $252,506 and $1.9 million, respectively, in alleged ill-gotten gains but waived the payment due to their “demonstrated inability to pay.”