The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Friday that two Canadians have been slapped with injunctions for issuing misleading press releases.

The SEC said that the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington entered permanent injunctions against two Vancouver residents, Robert Papalia and David Lynn Hunter. In its complaint, the commission alleged that Papalia and Hunter issued false and misleading press releases about their company, Nano World and its business relationships and financing commitments from other companies.

The SEC alleges that these false and misleading press releases caused increases in the price and volume of Nano World’s stock. The commission’s complaint also alleges that Papalia caused Nano World to file a false report with the SEC about the acquisition of another company and that he caused Nano World to fail to file other quarterly and annual reports.

The regulator says that Hunter consented to an order on March 12, without admitting or denying the allegations of the complaint, which permanently restrains him from violating securities laws. Hunter was also barred from acting as an officer or director of a public company for five years. Based on Hunter’s sworn financial statement the court determined not to impose a civil penalty.

It also reports that Papalia appeared before the court in a bench trial on Aug. 9, and a permanent injunction was entered against him on Sept. 1. Papalia is also permanently restrained from violating securities laws, and he was also ordered to pay a civil penalty of US$33,000 (US$5,500 for each of the six offending press releases). The SEC says that the court also determined that Papalia is substantially unfit to serve as an officer or director of a publicly held company and as such barred him from acting as an officer or director of any public issuer.