According to a SEC Press Release:
Litigation Release No. 25562 / October 18, 2022
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Brent David Willis, No. 1:22-cv-02744 (D. Colo. filed October 18, 2022)
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that it filed charges against Brent David Willis.
The former Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of NewAge, Inc. (formerly known as New Age Beverages Corporation), alleging that Willis engaged in a multi-year fraud by disseminating numerous false and misleading press releases and making false public statements concerning NewAge’s business dealings, and aided and abetted NewAge’s disclosure of material information in violation of Regulation FD.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that between 2017 and 2019, Willis, while CEO, both through his role in drafting and authorizing NewAge press releases and in statements he made in earnings calls, investor conferences, and in media interviews and appearances, made numerous false and misleading public statements concerned a wide range of matters material to NewAge’s business.
As alleged, these matters included NewAge’s alleged development of a portfolio of CBD-infused beverages and its purported deals with the U.S. military and several large domestic and international distributors and retailers.
According to the complaint, Willis orchestrated this multiyear fraud and disseminated the false and misleading public statements to create the