MIAMI – Dr. Phillip Frost, a Miami Beach entrepreneur and philanthropist who has donated millions to the University of Miami, Florida International University and the Miami Science Museum, responded to accusations that he was involved in a market manipulation scheme.
The U.S. Security and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit on Friday in the Southern District of New York against a group of 10 associates that includes Frost, the 83-year-old chief executive officer and chairman of OPKO Health Inc., a pharmaceutical and diagnostics company.
OPKO released a statement on Friday evening accusing the SEC of serious factual inaccuracies that could have been addressed if investigators had contacted Frost before attorneys filed the complaint.
"Had the SEC followed its own standard procedures, OPKO and Dr. Frost would gladly have provided information that would have answered a number of the SEC's apparent questions," OPKO's statement said.
Although the lawsuit mentions OPKO Health, the company released a statement on Friday evening saying the SEC does not include any allegations about OPKO's financial practices, financial statements or business practices.
OPKO shares dropped about 18 percent after the SEC's announcement. The lawsuit accused the group of earning more than $27 million in stock sales proceeds through a pump-and-dump scheme that went on for about five years and allegedly left public investors "holding virtually worthless stock."
Frost and the other accused are "confident that once a proper investigation is completed and the facts of the case have been fully disclosed, the matter will be resolved favorably," the statement said.
The other accused in the SEC lawsuit are Barry C. Honig, John Stetson, Michael Brauser, John R. O'Rourke III, Mark Groussman, Robert Ladd, Elliot Maza, Brian Keller and John H. Ford.
The other entities mentioned in the lawsuit were Alpha Capital Anstalt, ATG Capital LLC, Frost Gamma Investments Trust, GRQ Consultants Inc, HS Contrarian Investments LLC, Grander Holdings Inc., Melechdavid Inc., Southern Biotech Inc. and Stetson Capital Investments Inc.
Devin Broda, of New York-based Sard Verbinnen & Co., released the OPKO Health statement.