Former Chief Executive Officer and Former Chief Financial Officer of North Shore Company Charged with Securities Fraud

BOSTON—Two men were charged today in federal court with various securities offenses arising from their management of Locateplus Holdings Corporation, Inc., a corporation based in Beverly, Mass., that provides access to public real estate, telephone, and other records.

JON LATORELLA, 47, of Marblehead, and JAMES FIELDS, 43, of Brookline, were charged in an indictment with securities fraud, false statements to company auditors, false statements to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), false certifications as the CEO and CFO of a publicly traded company, aggravated identity theft, and engaging in unlawful financial transactions.

The indictment alleges that, starting in about 2002, Latorella, the former President and CEO of Locateplus, and Fields, the former CFO and later acting CEO of the company, engaged in several fraudulent schemes intended to artificially inflate the revenues of Locateplus, including falsifying loan documents to make it appear that a fictional entity owed Locateplus over $1 million; falsifying revenue streams to make it appear that an outside entity was paying Locateplus under the terms of a contract, when in fact the money came from Locateplus itself and other sources; deceiving the SEC to avoid having to register securities being sold by a company Latorella and Fields helped set up; using the identity of a young man who drowned in Marblehead Harbor in 1985 to fabricate both a business executive who purportedly did business with Locateplus and an investor in a company Latorella and Fields controlled; and routinely deceiving company auditors, and the SEC, to extend the fraudulent schemes and attract investment in Locateplus.

If convicted on these charges, Latorella and Fields face up to 20 years of imprisonment on the securities law violations charged in the indictment, as well as up to five years for conspiracy, up to 10 years for engaging in unlawful financial transactions and, as to the charge of aggravated identity theft, a minimum of two years’ imprisonment on and after any other sentence the defendants receive. The defendants would also be subject to up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $ 150,000. The government would also seek restitution for victims of the offenses in the indictment.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, William Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Division made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit. During the investigation, the United States Attorney’s Office received valuable assistance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.