BY JIM DOOLEY – State securities regulators filed a cease and desist order Wednesday against a Honolulu woman, Cynthia D. Maratas Ching, who was convicted here in 2001 of securities fraud.
The order, issued by Securities Commissioner Tung Chan, alleges that Maratas Ching, 60, offered unregistered securities worth more than $1 million to local and Mainland investors from 1999 through 2007.
For much of that period, Maratas-Ching was serving a five-year probation sentence for a 2001 securities fraud conviction, according to court records.
Commissioner Chan said in a news release that Maratas Ching promised investment returns from “various entertainment projects referred to as ‘Paradise Family Fun Centers’ and ‘Family Fun Centers.'”
Chan’s order alleged that Maratas Ching spent investors’ money “for personal use.”
The cease and desist order seeks a civil penalty of $1 million from Maratas Ching, Paradise Productions, LLC, and Paradise Family Fun Center, LLC.
Maratas Ching could not be reached for comment.
According to court files, Maratas Ching was convicted under the name of Cynthia D. Ching after pleading no contest in December 2000 to offenses including first degree theft, securities fraud and failure to register securities.
Circuit Judge Virginia Crandall sentenced her in 2001 to 30 days in jail and five years of probation.
Crandall also ordered the defendant to pay $126,000 in restitution to her victims.