Ronald Zaucha, the Chief Executive Officer of Left Behind Games, has said that millions of dollars of fines and a ban from trading stocks headline a conspiracy to dismantle the developer.
A Hawaii district court has ruled that Zaucha and Left Behind Games are liable for $2.6 million USD in “disgorgement, interest and penalities” and are banned from trading penny stocks. It follows a similar ruling in August 2014 where Left Behind Games’ founder, Troy Lyndon, was found liable for more than $3.6 million under similar circumstances.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that Lyndon issued nearly 2 billion shared of Left Behind Games’ stock to Zaucha in exchange for consulting work. In their judgement, the court decided that Zaucha didn’t actually do the consulting work; instead, both Lyndon and Zaucha conspired to use the sale of said stock to generate revenue which was then used as kick backs for the company.
The company’s stock was suspended in September 2013, and was later revoked entirely in February 2014.
“I’m just a video game guy. If any violation occurred, it would never have been intentional — and certainly, never fraudulent. My attorney told me that any person that earned shares could use them for any purpose,” Zaucha said in an interview with Reuters on the matter.
Left Behind Games is known for their Left Behind series of strategy games, dealing with a post-Rapture world. In the four Left Behind titles, based on the popular series of novels, players “use the power of prayer to strengthen [their] troops in combat and wield modern military weaponry throughout the game world.”
Zaucha thinks the recent ruling is nothing more than an attack on the developer and the games they make.
“For more than two years, I’ve asked SEC to explain how and if I have violated any rule, so that I could self-report it,” he continued. “As I see it, the government has systematically and intentionally conspired to dismantle Left Behind Games and the facts are both true and hard to believe — worthy of a Ron Howard film or John Grisham novel.”
This article may contain affiliate links, meaning we could earn a small commission if you click-through and make a purchase. Stevivor is an independent outlet and our journalism is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.
