The Scandal that Breaks College Football?
By Notre Dame football is built on a foundation of lies.
Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, the subject of an inspirational movie of an undersized football player who finally makes the Notre Dame team through sheer determination, was charged today with being part of a ”classic pump-and-dump scheme” to deceive investors into buying stock in Ruettiger’s sports drink company.
Ruettiger, identified in the SEC suit as “the walk-on football player at Notre Dame who was the subject of the 1993 movie ‘Rudy,’” was the CEO of the Rudy Nutrition, or RUNU.
The company allegedly produced and sold “modest amounts” of a sports drink called “Rudy,” which was supposed to compete with Gatorade. The drink’s tagline was “Dream Big! Never Quit!”The SEC alleged that Rudy Nutrition provided investors with false and misleading information about the company, such as a promotional email bragging that in “a major southwest test, Rudy outsold Gatorade 2 to 1!”, according to the SEC complaint. The company would then allegedly manipulate trading by artificially inflating the price of the stock while selling unregistered shares to investors.
The scheme allegedly occurred between February and September 2008, grossing over $11 million for the participants. The SEC alleges that the group “sold almost one billion shares to unsuspecting investors in the public market during the scheme.”
You’re too small! And you’ve also engaged in grossly fraudulent behavior!