Lordstown man pleads guilty to securities fraud

Staff report

WARREN

A 54-year-old Lordstown man has pleaded guilty to three counts of securities fraud and will be sentenced after the Trumbull County Adult Probation Department conducts a pre- sentence investigation.

David B. Zuppan of Malibu Drive entered the plea Wednesday before Judge W. Wyatt McKay in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court. He could receive probation or prison time.

Zuppan’s indictment says he committed the crimes Aug. 8, 2007, to Aug. 28, 2007. The value of the fraud was $50,000, the indictments says.

According to the Ohio Department of Commerce, the agency issued a cease and desist order Sept. 29, 2011, to Zuppan and his companies, Columbia Polymers Inc. and Hydrolock Basements Inc., which market a system to prevent water intrusion into basements.

The agency found that Zuppan received funds from investors in exchange for investments in Zuppan’s companies, but Zuppan did not inform the investors that their funds would be used to buy salon services for his wife, a wedding gift for his niece, college tuition for his daughter and payment for his personal debt to the Internal Revenue Service, the Ohio Department of Commerce said in a news release.

The investment offering also was never registered with the Department of Commerce, the agency said.