SEC Subpoenas Brunson’s Webmaster Over WPT Bid

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The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday filed an action in Fort Worth federal district court to enforce subpoenas issued to a man it said ran Doyle Brunson’s Web site, where the professional poker player first posted his unsolicited $700 million bid for WPT Enterprises Inc. in July.


The investigation, announced in December, is looking into whether Brunson’s offer, at nearly double WPT’s then-market value, was designed to artificially inflate the stock price, violating federal securities laws. Brunson then refused to provide further details, despite WPT’s requests.


The SEC said Wallace Nakano, Brunson’s Web developer, has not complied after two attempts one subpoena sent via Federal Express and another delivered to Nakano’s Long Beach home by a process server and signed by his brother.


Although Nakano received the SEC’s subpoenas and hired an attorney to contact the regulatory agency, he has refused to comply, claiming the service was “defective,” the SEC said in a statement.


The SEC said it is waiting for the federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, to rule on its December request to enforce subpoenas served on Brunson’s lawyers David Chesnoff and Chaka Henry, of the Las Vegas-based firm Goodman & Chesnoff. The firm prepared and delivered Brunson’s offer, the SEC said. The lawyers since invoked attorney-client privilege.


News of the bid sent shares up 49 percent to a 52-week high of $29.50 on July 8. When WPT publicly disclosed Brunson’s refusal to provide additional details about the offer, its stock price sharply declined, the SEC said, costing investors tens of millions of dollars in lost market value. Brunson’s offer eventually expired.


Shares of WPT fell 0.7 percent to close at $7.09 on Thursday.


L.A.-based WPT, the creator of the “World Poker Tour” television show, was founded in March 2002 and went public in August 2004.

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