By Matthew Nuttle
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HONOLULU, Hawaii (KITV) — A married couple has been charged with securities fraud after the US Department of Justice said they duped hundreds of investors out of more than $28 million in a decade-long semi-submersible vessel scheme.
Curtiss E. Jackson, 69, of Honolulu, and Jamey Denise Jackson, 59, currently of Lake Worth, Florida, and formerly of Honolulu, are accused of fraudulently obtaining money by lying to investors about their company’s business and operations, including its revenue and expenses, according to court documents.
The investors purchased securities in the Jackson’s Hawaii-based company Semisub Inc.
According to the unsealed indictment, Curtiss and Denise – who served as CEO and President of the company respectively – raised over $28 million from more than 400 investors over more than 10 years. During that time, the DOJ says the Jackson’s falsely told investors that their prototype vessel, called “Semisub One,”’ was “weeks” or “months” away from beginning operations.
The couple is also accused of lying to investors about being in business with or having developed relationships with government agencies and a well-known private equity firm to build and sell a fleet of additional vessels for $32 million each, according to investigators.
The DOJ says the Jackson’s used the money they raised to buy luxury homes in California and Hawaii, as…
