ADVERTISEMENT SEC Loses Jury Trial Against Spartan In 'Shell Factory' Case Law360 (August 2, 2021, 7:36 PM EDT) -- A Florida federal jury on Friday largely rejected the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's allegations that Spartan Securities Group Ltd. was complicit in a scheme to create sham companies and fraudulently sell their stock on over-the-counter markets. Following a 13-day trial in Tampa, the jury cleared broker-dealer Spartan, its transfer agent Island Capital Management and the firms' owners Carl Dilley and Micah Eldred, along with fellow Spartan owner David Lopez, of a dozen claimsthat they aided and abetted a plot that prosecutors dubbed the "Shell Factory Fraud."