Smoke-free cigarette maker’s chief executive resigns post

Thomas Schroepfer stepped down Friday as chief executive officer of SmokeFree Innotec Inc. less than 24 hours after he and his Las Vegas company that markets smoke-free cigarettes were charged with securities fraud.

“He is looking for an expedited resolution to the matter,” said Jeffrey Cox, a partner in the Boca Raton, Fla., law firm Sallah & Cox, who represents Schroepfer.

On Thursday in Florida, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Thomas Schroepfer, aka Thomas Schroepfer Baetsen, of Las Vegas, president and CEO of SmokeFree Innotec.

The indictment accuses Schroepfer, SmokeFree Innotec, and a stock promoter, Charles Fuentes, of Dana Point, Calif., of engaging “in a fraudulent scheme involving the stock of SmokeFree involving illicit kickbacks and phony agreements.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami on Thursday separately charged Schroepfer, 54, and Fuentes, 66, with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud in a “scheme to defraud the investing public by engaging in deceptive and manipulative trading practices in connection with SmokeFree Innotec stock.”