Infinium founder charged with using "impending Phantom launch" to inflate and sell stock

by Conrad Quilty-Harper { May 18th 2006 at 6:10AM }

Timothy Roberts, the founder and former CEO of Infinium Labs, the company that promised us the Phantom (which came in at second on Wired's list of vaporware products of '06), has been accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of artificially inflating stock and selling it on at a $422,500 profit. The SEC alleges that Roberts hired a promoter to send junk faxes to investors citing the Phantom's imminent launch, when in fact the console had postponed the launch due to insufficient funds.

According to the SEC, Roberts then sold 1.3 million shares from the company -- without any disclosure -- and secretly paid the promoter he had hired. These two actions, unfortunately for Roberts, are against the law: the SEC has asked a court to force Roberts to surrender the cash, pay a penalty and to prohibit him from ever becoming a CEO again.

Meanwhile, the company -- sans Roberts -- has blown through $63 million without producing the Phantom and has lost another CEO yet still claims to be relevant and capable of launching The Phantom along with a ~~useless~~ lap-based keyboard accessory. Someone put the company out of its misery. Pretty please?

[Thanks, Neal]

Tags: CEO, CNN Money, CnnMoney, Corruption, Game companies, GameCompanies, Infinium, Phantom, Shares, Sleaze, Stock, The Phantom, ThePhantom, Vaporware, Vapourware

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Ad @ May 18th 2006 6:39AM

Some people just can't control their greed.

Ad @ May 18th 2006 6:43AM

btw Conrad Quilty-Harper is the best name ive seen on Joystiq.

1. Conrad Quilty-Harper
2. C.K. Sample, III
3. Blake Snow or Vladimir Cole

Conrad Quilty-Harper @ May 18th 2006 6:48AM

LOL, thanks!

jay @ May 18th 2006 7:58AM

it is a good name. best I've ever heard was James Max though. "James... MAX!"

GlitchCog @ May 18th 2006 8:11AM

How much more effort beyond all the work put into lying would it take to actually create a legitamate product?

Ad @ May 18th 2006 8:31AM

Was that on joystiq? The best names ever come from Homer Simpson:-

1. Max Power
2. Rembrandt Q. Einstein
3. Handsome B. Wonderful

And for cutting edge, dynamic companies:-
CutCo
EdgeCom
InterSlice

Olly @ May 18th 2006 8:44AM

Despite the vapourware, why hasn't anyone released just the lapboard! Looked like a great idea to me. Shame it was attached to the phantom though...

Carl Winslow @ May 18th 2006 8:47AM

Great job, Joystiq. Way to incite the Infinium fanboys.

Paul Cosgrove @ May 18th 2006 9:06AM

I can't believe any investors ever bought into the whole Phantom thing.

Even the *name* is a dead giveaway.

ncdign @ May 18th 2006 9:17AM

This guy must come from the Stefan Eriksson School of Business. Does he drive a Ferrari?

draco @ May 18th 2006 9:17AM

has anyone seen their comercials on G4.. confused the hell out of me when I saw it.

I thought it was a PS3 comercial until the last second when it said Phantom

jaemz @ May 18th 2006 9:20AM

From the CNN site: "The Phantom and Infinium Labs were mocked mercilessly amongst gamers in 2004 and most of 2005, many of whom were skeptical of the name - and whether the company could deliver on its promises."

Haha, I almost feel famous now. Now if only 'in game ad' companies could suffer the same fate as the Phantom.

Martin @ May 18th 2006 9:40AM

The product sure does live up to its name. This sounds like it would make a great new Columbo flick, though. He sends the fax, sells the stock (and we'd have to stick a murder in there somewhere), and then we all get to watch Columbo (conveniently now part of the SEC) bust his ass.

And to Carl Winslow ... I'm not sure I follow you. Where are the Infinium fanboys said to be incited?

epobirs @ May 18th 2006 10:33AM

I'd love to see the list of investors who provided that $63 million and the amounts from each. A certain number of them were probably looking purposely for a failure to act as a tax shelter scheme but you have to wonder about the individuals or groups who threw a few million at this while genuinely believing the pitch.

Gonzo @ May 18th 2006 10:40AM

Glad I skipped that investment, and the gismondo. Any successful industry is going to attract it's share of charlatans.

Too bad; it was a great idea. I've always preferred computer games and always wanted a console that could just play those games on the tv. That way I could get a mac or just not spend over 1k on a pc so my wife & I can play games on it.

Edmund @ May 18th 2006 10:49AM

I can't believe people are still talking about the Phantom. What is that company thinking?

Carl Winslow @ May 18th 2006 11:05AM

Martin - it was a joke mocking posts accusing joystiq of trying to incite fanboys in other threads.

Sam @ May 18th 2006 11:19AM

I'm curious as to the actual amount of technical personnel Infinium has on payroll. Is there actually a group of people working on the Phantom, or is there just one guy working on something phony to drum up investors? I guess, in a way, I'm asking whether there was any real product to begin with, or was this all a scam?

JD @ May 18th 2006 11:24AM

Wait. You mean the Phantom isn't real??

That's it. I'm going to cancel my pre-order on EBGames right now!

Own3d @ May 18th 2006 1:09PM

Had to do it...

http://www.Timothy%20Roberts.justgotowned.com/

Kristi @ May 18th 2006 2:03PM

This guy is a serial CEO. He has a long history of starting companies, spending all the money from investors then running.

Ryan Dolley @ May 18th 2006 3:42PM

What really strikes me is that the CEO's profit was ONLY 500K. The phantom is an obvious scam, so can't you come away with a little more money than that?

C'mon! We've all seen Greed. This guy sucks as a top shelf money stealer.

Jellodyne @ May 18th 2006 4:38PM

No, Carly Fiorina is a serial CEO. Roberts is just a scam artist. Say what you will about Stefan Eriksson, but his company actually delivered a product. It was pretty clear from when HardOCP broke the story that Infinium Labs was a made-up company with no real offices, labs, or intention of delivering anything but promises to investors. See: Moeller SkyCar.

Ibere @ May 18th 2006 5:34PM

Who buys stocks from these "tips" that comes from faxes anyway?!

Really... I know a company is a scam or is in deep trouble if I receive one of this "tips" via fax...

Michael Leonardo @ May 18th 2006 6:56PM

They call it the Phantom for a reason!

Illini2003 @ May 18th 2006 11:34PM

Personally I dont't think the phantom is a scam, but it is definately a project that is unfeasible in the long run. Let's all keep in mind that the way the computer industry works is constantly pushing the limits of technology and that is why if you're a computer gamer you consistently have to upgrade bits and pieces of your computer. The phantom is a pipe dream, one that is good in theory, but almost impossible in execution. There is no way that as a computer based console it would survive as developers would never design for the phantom specifically and it would soon become outdated.

Loque @ May 19th 2006 1:02AM

Jojo, it's nothing more than a webcam. How long have those been around?

TiaMaster @ May 19th 2006 1:22PM

I don't know why the article accuses the laptop keyboard as "useless".

Has the author never tried sitting on his couch trying to use the keyboard and mouse with his TV? It sure looks like that particular accessory (which was SUPPOSED to be released already seperate from the Phantom...) has some things going for it.