On October 16, 2017, the Commission instituted and simultaneously settled cease-and-desist proceedings (the “Order”) against Mergenet Medical Inc. (“Mergenet”) and four of its senior officers and executives, Bruce Matthew Sher, Shara Anne Hernandez, and Peter Anthony Decicco, Jr. (collectively, the “Respondents”). In the Order, the Commission found that, from September 2012 through June 2015, Mergenet, a privately held development-stage medical device manufacturing and sales company, raised approximately $1.403 million from approximately 72 accredited investors. Mergenet marketed its securities using private placement memoranda (“PPMs”), written company presentations, videos, and oral communications. Mergenet mailed and emailed the PPMs, written presentations, and videos to investors and prospective investors. The Respondents made material misstatements or omissions to investors and prospective investors regarding the status of Mergenet’s applications to the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) in 2008 and 2009 for clearance of one of the company’s technologies, the High Flow Therapy respiratory device (“HFT Device”) and the projected sales of the HFT Device and related medical supplies when at the time, the FDA had deemed withdrawn Mergenet’s applications for clearance of the HFT Device and no application for clearance of the HFT Device was under FDA review. The Commission ordered the Respondents to pay a total of $180,000.00 in civil money penalties. The Commission also established a Fair Fund, pursuant to Section 308(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended, so the penalties can be distributed to investors harmed by the Respondents’ conduct.  See the Commission’s Order: Release No. 33-10426. 

On May 11, 2020, the Commission issued an order appointing Miller Kaplan Arase LLP as the Tax Administrator for the Fair Fund. See the Commission’s Order: Release No. 34-88847.

For more information, please contact the Commission:

Office of Distributions
Email: ENFOfficeofDistributions@sec.gov