“New York Attorney General Letitia James today delivered a victory for environmentally-conscious “green” investors in Upstate New York by getting a Western New York company and its founder to end the illegal profiting from the sale of unregistered securities, which allowed the founder to subsidize his lifestyle. Attorney General James obtained a consent order and judgment from the Erie County State Supreme Court against Kean Stimm and the company he founded, Kean Wind Turbines, Inc., that forces Stimm to stop serving as an officer or director of the company, orders him to release all patent rights to the company, suspends his voting control of the company, and orders him to repay $300,000 in restitution and damages for money that he diverted for personal use.
“This scheme deliberately targeted environmentally-conscious investors and preyed upon their desire to do good,” said Attorney General James. “Western New Yorkers who wanted to invest in a socially-conscious cause and help combat climate change instead were duped into subsidizing Stimm’s lifestyle. What’s worse is that even after COVID-19 began to spread rapidly across New York State and the nation, Stimm continued to solicit Western New Yorkers’ dwindling funds and take advantage of their good nature. This agreement will ensure Kean Stimm surrenders all rights to the patent he was marketing and suspends his voting control of the company, so that investors can continue to invest towards a working wind turbine, while simultaneously forcing Stimm to return $300,000 to the company.””
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New York Attorney General 5 June 2020.