Securities and Exchange Commission filed an action to halt what regulators said was an ongoing fraud in the sale of stock by Aerokinetic Energy Corp

Securities and Exchange Commission filed an emergency action to halt what regulators said was an ongoing fraud in the sale of stock by Aerokinetic Energy Corp. and its president, Randolph Bridwell.Acting on the SEC’s request, Judge James Whittemore of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa issued a temporary restraining order and an asset freeze over Aerokinetic’s bank account.
According to the SEC’s complaint, Aerokinetic and Bridwell raised at least $535,000 from 24 investors nationwide and are currently seeking to raise another $575,000 through a fraudulent offering of unregistered securities. The SEC said Bridwell misappropriated investors’ funds to pay personal expenses and it cannot account for $230,00 in investor funds.Aerokinetic, based in Sarasota, claims to be in the business of researching, developing and marketing alternative power technologies and other innovative products, the SEC complaint says. The company and Bridwell claimed to have developed a power generation station that is capable of creating electrical energy at a fraction of the cost of conventional or nuclear means and to have developed an electric car that has attracted the interest of prominent individuals such as Lee Iacocca, Brad Pitt, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Al Gore, the complaint says.The defendants also told investors and potential investors that they project millions of dollars in sales within the first years of operation and billions of dollars thereafter, according to the complaint.The SEC said the claims are patently false and that Aerokinetic has no patients, license agreements, contracts, suppliers, customers, sales, revenue or market share.The temporary restraining order will be in effect until Aug. 4. The court has scheduled a hearing for a preliminary injunction on Aug. 1.