Former CEO of Incomnet Settles SEC Charges

A former Incomnet Inc. chairman and chief executive agreed to pay $85,000 to settle charges that he failed to make timely disclosure of trades in the Woodland Hills-based company’s stock and filed a false report about them, the Securities and Exchange Commission said. The SEC alleged that Sam D. Schwartz bought more than 1 million shares in the discount long-distance telephone company and sold 900,000 shares from June 1994 to July 1995 without disclosing the transactions in a timely manner. The SEC added that Schwartz signed a misleading Incomnet regulatory filing saying Incomnet’s board had approved the transactions. He also approved false news releases about the trades, the SEC said. In settling the case, Schwartz neither admitted nor denied the allegations. In addition to paying the $85,000 fine, Schwartz agreed to be subject to stiffer penalties if he violates SEC laws in the future. Schwartz’s lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.