The SEC has charge an Idaho company, Alternative Energy with fraud:

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged an Idaho company on Thursday with fraudulently raising money from investors across the country and Asia to build a $10 billion nuclear power plant.

The SEC also asked a court to freeze the assets of Alternate Energy Holdings Inc. and its two top executives.

The federal financial regulators accusing the Eagle-based company of taking part in a scheme to enrich its chief executive at the expense of investors. Specifically, SEC investigators say AEHI manipulated its stock price, in part through a barrage of misleading public statements about the company and hiding the profits reported by CEO Donald Gillispie and a senior vice president Jennifer Ransom.

The SEC says it has records that Gillispie and Ransom secretly unloaded stock holdings and funneled the money back to Gillispie, enabling him this year to make six times the salary he reported to investors and spend lavishly on jewelry, cruises, a Maserati sports car and other items.

While this isn't the big fish we would all love to see pay, this action is important. Right now companies, start-ups, raise money from all sorts of investors. Sometimes, one has to wonder in what right mind that investor is in.

It's still dot con mentality out there, with the ones really making out being the executives and there is no consequence or recourse. It's one thing to take a risk, it's another to present pure lies and get money for them.