spacetoday.net: SEC reaches settlement with Momentus

Posted: Fri, Jul 16, 2021, 7:15 PM ET (2315 GMT)
The Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday it's reached a settlement with Momentus and the SPAC it is merging with regarding false claims. The SEC said that Momentus misled investors about the state of its in-space propulsion technology, claiming an experimental cubesat launched in 2019 successfully demonstrated water plasma thrusters when the satellite in fact failed to meet the company's own definition of success. The company also withheld information regarding national security concerns about its co-founder and former CEO, Mikhail Kokorich. Stable Road Acquisition Corporation failed to perform proper due diligence on Momentus's claims, the SEC concluded. Momentus, Stable Road and Stable Road CEO Brian Kabot were fined more than $8 million under the terms of the settlement. The SEC says it's continuing to pursue charges against Kokorich, who is not part of the settlement agreement.