STUART, Fla., Aug. 27, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ecosphere Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB:ESPH), a diversified water engineering and environmental services company, has just discovered that a recently formed Ft. Lauderdale company, World Investment Consultants, Inc. (WIC), is using a telemarketing scheme featuring cold calls and classic misrepresentations claiming to sell investors Ecosphere stock at a substantial discount to the market price. An investor has confirmed that he received a cold-call from a salesman at WIC and invested $50,000 on or about late July and August 4, 2010.
As a result of learning this information, Ecosphere's SEC Counsel, immediately contacted the Securities and Exchange Commission's Miami Regional Office. Ecosphere's Counsel asked the SEC staff to investigate and also brought to the SEC's staff's attention information that Ecosphere has noticed apparent stock manipulation and short-selling irregularities during the last several months.
The investor provided Ecosphere with copies of two agreements that he had received from WIC. One of the agreements offered 100,000 shares of stock for sale at $0.50 per share on August 2, 2010 and the second offered 50,000 shares of stock at $0.40 per share on August 24, 2010; together with a wire transfer form dated August 4, 2010. ESPH stock closed at $0.82 on August 4, 2010.
Charles Vinick, Executive Chairman of Ecosphere, stated, "This is clearly unconnected to Ecosphere. We were not offering stock for sale at these levels and did not authorize WIC to offer shares on our behalf. No one at Ecosphere has any knowledge concerning WIC or its representatives."
In this respect, a post on the Yahoo Message Board on July 26, 2010 referred to a secondary offering to sell Ecosphere stock at $0.40 per share. This false statement clearly had the intended effect of depressing the public trading price of Ecosphere common stock. On July 26, 2010 ESPH stock traded as high as $0.92, as low as $0.72 and closed at $0.82 or a loss of $0.10 for the day on volume of almost 2 million shares.
Ecosphere cautions investors who are approached with offers that appear too good to be true or below market price to perform appropriate due diligence, including verifying that the shares exist and can be promptly delivered.
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About Ecosphere Technologies:
Ecosphere Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB:ESPH) is a diversified water engineering and environmental services company. The Company provides environmental services and technologies for use in large-scale and sustainable applications across industries, nations and ecosystems.
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CONTACT: The WSR Group Investor Relations Contact: Gerald Kieft 772-219-7525 EcosphereIR@wallstreetresources.net www.wallstreetresources.net/ecosphere.asp