Records: Melville company names interim CEO after former exec arrest
Digital Donations Technologies Inc. has named an interim chief executive after the Melville company's former top executive resigned following his arrest on charges of securities and wire fraud, the company said in a government filing.
Glenn Charlesworth, 66, was named interim CEO and treasurer of the company effective Aug. 28. He has provided accounting services on a part-time basis since 2011 for Digital Donations, according to the filing.
He succeeds Keith Orlean, who resigned from those positions and from his role as a director effective June 14.
On May 3, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan announced the arrest of Orlean and two others on charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud.
They face up to 25 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
Orlean's attorney, Robert C. Gottlieb, on Tuesday said that the government's case was based in part on a wiretap on the phone of one of Orlean's co-defendants.
"Based on the evidence we've seen, there's no evidence that Mr. Orlean intended to defraud anyone," he said.
The indictment said that Orlean, of Dix Hills, and co-defendants Vladimir Ziskind and Kevin Weinzoff, both of Brooklyn, used false names in a scheme that bilked investors of a combined $2 million by pressuring them to buy worthless stock in Digital Donations.
The effort ran from April 2014 through April 2018, according to the indictment.
"This is about ramming it down their throat," Ziskind told Orlean in a wiretapped call on April 2, according to the indictment.
Calls on Tuesday to Digital Donations were not returned.
The filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Digital Donations said the board of directors has "no immediate plans" to appoint a new director to replace Orlean, who is "expected to remain a consultant to the company."
The filing also said that Orlean has loaned the company $20,000 to help it with securities filings and other matters.
A company filing in April said that Orlean owned 42 percent of company stock and described its business as developing fundraising platforms that allow "retailers and quick service restaurants to present requests for contributions" for nonprofit organizations at the point of sale.
Digital Donations posted a net loss of $401,870 in 2017 on revenue of $118,315. The company had $6,562 in cash and cash equivalents as of Dec. 31.
In November 2016, the company issued a government filing outlining plans for a $13.1 million stock sale and a public listing on an OTC exchange.
In October 2017, the company announced an effort to raise up to $5 million on Crowdfunder.com. The company said the money would go toward developing a digital wallet and a cryptocurrency.
Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday. He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post.
