Oil Man with Billings Ties Charged in Stock Swindle

Former oil company executive Michael Reger has been ordered to repay $6.5 million he received illegally, plus a fine and accrued interest, in the wake of a stock manipulation scheme for which the businessman with Billings ties and his associates reaped an estimated $32 million.  An Oct. 31 order from the federal Securities and Exchange Commission puts Reger on the hook for nearly $8 million for his involvement with Dakota Plains Holdings, a Minnesota company that owns an oil terminal in North Dakota.
Reger must repay investors a $6.5 million “disgorgement,” a term for funds that were received through illegal or unethical business transactions.  He was also ordered to pay over $669,000 in interest, plus a $750,000 fine.  In a separate action, the SEC charged Reger’s former business partner, Ryan Gilbertson, in the stock manipulation scheme, for allegedly orchestrating an elaborate scheme to siphon millions of dollars from Dakota Plains Holdings Inc.