Oil, gas company sales Jupiter Energy halted by judge

Oil, gas company sales Jupiter Energy halted by judge

A Franklin Circuit judge has granted the state of Kentucky a restraining order against Jupiter Energy, an oil and gas company with offices in Louisville, to keep it from selling or marketing its investments.

Judge Roger Crittenden’s order also bars sales and marketing by four Jupiter officers — brothers Brian and Jason Rose, and Tom Nelson and his wife, Dawn Nelson.

The order is part of a civil action brought by the Kentucky Office of Financial Institutions seeking a permanent injunction on sales and marketing by Jupiter and its officers.

Jupiter Energy’s managing partner is Brian Rose, 26, son of David G. Rose, who has operated oil and gas companies since 1983. Last year, Kentucky secured a permanent injunction barring David Rose from involvement in securities sales.

David Rose announced last month that he would no longer sell securities, but he recommended that investors consider his sons’ companies.

The Courier-Journal reported in March that one of David Rose’s former companies, Bowling Green oil and gas developer Robo Enterprises Inc., raised more than $100 million from thousands of investors worldwide.

Nearly all of the investors lost 95 percent or more of what they put in, in part because Rose charged them so much for tiny percentages of wells that it was unlikely that they could make a profit, the newspaper found. Despite that, Robo continued to promote its “success” in the oilfields and downplay the risk of its investments. Robo filed for bankruptcy in 2001.

David Rose’s current company, enTerra Energy, has been operating from Jeffersonville, Ind., since 2005 when Kentucky secured a permanent injunction against him and enTerra in Franklin Circuit Court.

In the restraining order, Crittenden said Jupiter could continue to sell if it disclosed certain facts, in writing, to investors, including the many legal and administrative actions taken against David Rose, including Kentucky’s injunction, and that the Tulsa, Okla., office listed in Jupiter’s sales materials is “just an answering machine or service and that operations are from the offices in Louisville, Kentucky rather than Oklahoma.”

Rose and enTerra are under investigation by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service. Rose and his companies have been cited more than a dozen times by regulators in several states for breaking securities laws and have been sued by numerous investors. One Robo investor has an outstanding judgment against David Rose for more than $2 million.

Jupiter officer Jason Rose, who has gone by his middle name, Todd, also is starting an oil and gas company, Berkshire Resources, in Kentucky. Berkshire, which was registered this year in Florida, has offices in Jeffersonville, Ind., and also lists an address in Simpsonville, Ky.

Brian Rose declined through a secretary to answer questions for this story. Jason Rose and Dawn and Tom Nelson did not return calls for comment.

The Office of Financial Institutions began investigating Jupiter in April, after it received a filing believed to contain inaccurate information.

In its complaint filed last week, the state alleges that Jupiter Energy had been misleading investors by using David Rose’s history, which it paints in a positive light, to sell securities, while not disclosing his many legal and regulatory problems. The complaint also said Jupiter is misrepresenting itself as an Oklahoma company when it operates from offices off Hurstbourne Parkway in Louisville.

Securities laws require that prospective investors be told all material facts about an investment.

The complaint also notes several connections between enTerra and Jupiter, including that they use the same Oklahoma address and secretary and receive their forwarded mail together.

The 2005 injunction prohibits David Rose’s involvement in any securities sale in Kentucky and forbids his ownership or control of any person or business selling securities.

Colleen Keefe, director of the securities division in the Office of Financial Institutions, said yesterday that the agency asked for the restraining order to better protect investors.

“Generally, it’s much easier to prevent someone from investing in the first place, rather than try to get money back afterwards,” she said. “We were trying to prevent this from being sold to investors with the disclosures they have currently.”

Keefe said the state hopes to permanently bar Jupiter, Brian and Todd Rose, and Tom and Dawn Nelson from selling securities in Kentucky. The complaint also seeks reimbursement for all who invested in Jupiter based on the current materials. Jupiter has been trying to raise $4.4 million from investors.

Via: www.courier-journal.com

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