CEO Accused by SEC of Misleading Investors with False Statements and Incorrect Calculations

Anthem Hayek Blanchard, an entrepreneur based in Oklahoma, is facing allegations from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of providing false information about his tech company to attract investments. The SEC filed a lawsuit against Blanchard and his firm, Anthem Holdings, on September 23, 2024, accusing them of deceiving investors by making fraudulent claims about securing government contracts, inflating revenue forecasts, and overstating growth prospects.

The SEC’s lawsuit, titled Securities and Exchange Commission v. Anthem Hayek Blanchard and Anthem Holdings Company, elaborates on how the defendants managed to raise over $5 million from investors based on these fabrications. However, many of these investors, predominantly from Kansas, have suffered significant financial losses as a result.

Blanchard has denied any wrongdoing since the SEC initiated civil proceedings against him, though he is yet to formally respond to the charges in court. Despite his denial, court documents revealed his company’s bankruptcy status before the legal actions by the SEC. In 2024, Blanchard’s business partners disclosed that they had converted substantial unpaid debts into equity in Copper Tree Inc., a company controlled by Blanchard’s wife, Cynthia Blanchard, who is not implicated in the SEC lawsuit against her husband.

Following a court directive to sell the Price Tower, Copper Tree Inc. filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in January, temporarily halting the sale process. Around 200 investors fell victim to Blanchard’s exaggerated financial forecasts in 2020 when he sought funding for his company, Anthem Holdings, operating Hera Software Development, Inc., specializing in blockchain technology for cybersecurity and supply chain efficiency.

During the company’s IPO, Blanchard falsely claimed that Hera would generate over $400 million in revenue within five years, despite securing only a $250,000 contract from a Dutch company. The SEC alleges that Blanchard’s revenue projections were highly inflated and misleading, painting a picture of rapid growth that was not feasible.

The lawsuit further accuses Blanchard of fabricating contracts with government agencies and inflating revenue figures based on non-existent deals. Despite efforts by a contractor to secure these contracts ending in March 2020, Blanchard continued to promote these government contracts to potential investors as imminent opportunities. These allegations shed light on the deceptive practices employed by Blanchard to lure investors into investing in Anthem Holdings.