According to an Investment News report, three officers and founders of Provident Royalties Inc. received prison time for participating in a fraudulent Ponzi scheme involving the offer and sale of private placement securities. Brendan Coughlin and Henry Harrison received sentences of twenty-one months and Joseph Blimline was sentenced to twelve years in federal prison. The CFO, W. Mark Miller, received a sentence of six months in prison and six months under home confinement. The four men were also ordered to pay $2.3 million in restitution.

The sentences were handed down a week before the SEC lifted a ban against advertising the sale of private placement securities. Some regulators believe that lifting the ban is reckless and will result in more fraudulent activity.

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