Not a Feel Good Moment for 'Rudy'

Submitted by rkoreto on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 15:07

Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, the former Notre Dame football player who inspired the 1993 movie Rudy, found himself receiving not a pigskin but an SEC complaint earlier this month. Twelve other participants were also charged.

According to the SEC, Ruettiger's company, Rudy Nutrition, sold a drink called "Rudy" to compete with Gatorade in the sports drink market. "However, the company primarily served as a vehicle for a pump-and-dump scheme that occurred in 2008 and generated more than $11 million in illicit profits."

The SEC noted that the company falsely claimed it had won taste tests against competitors. "Meanwhile, the scheme’s promoters engaged in manipulative trading to artificially inflate the price of Rudy Nutrition stock while selling unregistered shares to investors. The SEC suspended trading and later revoked registration of the stock in late 2008."

Ruettiger and 10 other participants have agreed to settle the SEC’s charges without admitting or denying the allegations, according to the SEC. The settlements, which are subject to court approval, impose penny stock bars and officer-and-director bars as appropriate. Ruettiger has agreed to pay $382,866 in settling the charges.

Rudy Nutrition is no longer in business.

 

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