SEC v. Patrick G. Rooney; and Solaris Management, LLC, No. 1:11-cv-08264, Northern District of Illinois (Dec. 1, 2011) — Complaint

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION

____________________________________
                                                                  )
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND )
EXCHANGE COMMISSION,                )
)
   Plaintiff,                      )
                                                                        )
 v.                                                         ) No.  11-cv-  8264
                                                                        )
PATRICK G. ROONEY and                         ) Hon.
SOLARIS MANAGEMENT, LLC                )
____________________________________)

COMPLAINT

Plaintiff United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) alleges
as follows:
NATURE OF THE ACTION
1.  Patrick G. Rooney (“Rooney”) and Solaris Management, LLC (“Solaris
Management”), investment advisers to the Solaris Opportunity Fund, LP (the “Solaris Fund” or
the “Fund”), a hedge fund, have defrauded the Fund and its investors by misusing the Fund’s
assets to further their own interests.  From February 2005 to November 2008 – contrary to the
Solaris Fund’s stated investment strategy and to the best interests of the Solaris Fund and its
investors – Rooney and Solaris Management invested over $3.6 million of the Fund’s money in
Positron Corporation (“Positron”), a financially troubled microcap company of which Rooney
has been Chairman since July 2004.
2. In essence, Rooney and Solaris Management used the Fund as Positron’s piggy
bank, and caused the Fund to finance Positron when it had no other sources of funding.  Rooney

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and Solaris Management invested the Fund’s assets in Positron through both private transactions
and market purchases of Positron’s common stock.  Many of the private transactions were
undocumented while other investments were loans to Positron at 0% interest.  By November
2008, the Fund had all its assets invested in Positron.  The Fund now owns over 1.1 billion
shares of Positron -- over 60% of the company.
3. Rooney hid the Positron investment – and his affiliation with Positron – from
Solaris Fund investors for four years, until March 2009.  All the while, Rooney and Solaris
Management misled investors into believing that they were invested in a diversified hedge fund
which protected them from market movements and that the Fund’s money was being invested by
a disinterested investment adviser acting in their best interests.
4. Although Rooney eventually revealed to investors his relationship with Positron,
he lied in telling them that he became Chairman to safeguard the Solaris Funds’ investment.
5. In making the Positron investment, Rooney and Solaris Management radically
changed the Fund’s non-directional investment strategy, and saddled the Fund with a
concentrated, undiversified, and illiquid position in a cash poor company with a lengthy track
record of losses.  Notwithstanding that radical change, Rooney and Solaris Management (a)
continued to distribute offering materials to prospective and existing investors in the Solaris
Fund – and in the Fund’s offshore feeder fund – that misrepresented the funds’ investment
strategy, and (b) failed to disclose to prospective and existing investors the true nature of the
Fund.

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JURISDICTION AND VENUE
6. The Commission brings this action pursuant to the authority conferred on it by
Section 20(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) [15 U.S.C. § 77t(b)], Sections
21(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) [15 U.S.C. §§ 78u(d) and
78u(e)], and Section 209(d) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”) [15
U.S.C. § 80b-9(d)].
7. This Court has jurisdiction over this action pursuant to Section 22(a) of the
Securities Act [15 U.S.C. § 77v], Section 27 of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78aa], and
Section 214(a) of the Advisers Act [15 U.S.C. §§ 80b-9(d) and 80b-14] and 28 U.S.C. § 1331.
8. Venue is proper in this Court pursuant to Section 22(a) of the Securities Act [15
U.S.C. § 77v(a)], Section 27 of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. §78aa], and Section 214(a) of the
Advisers Act [15 U.S.C. § 80b-14].
9. All of the Defendants reside in the Northern District of Illinois, and the acts,
practices, and courses of business constituting the violations alleged herein occurred within the
jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and elsewhere.
10. Rooney and Solaris Management, directly and indirectly, have made, and are
making, use of the means and instrumentalities of interstate commerce and of the mails in
connection with the acts, practices and courses of business alleged herein in the Northern District
of Illinois and elsewhere.

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DEFENDANTS
11. Patrick G. Rooney, age 48, a resident of Oakbrook, Illinois, is the founder, sole
owner, and managing partner of Solaris Management.  From July 2004 to the present, he has
served as Chairman of the Board of Positron, and since February 2009 he has also been
Positron’s Chief Executive Officer.
12.  Solaris Management, LLC is a Delaware limited liability company with its
principal place of business in Oakbrook, Illinois.  It is the general partner and investment adviser
of the Solaris Fund and the Solaris Offshore Fund.
RELATED ENTITIES
13. The Solaris Opportunity Fund, LP is a Delaware limited partnership and a hedge
fund that promotes itself as using a “non-directional” strategy (i.e. using long, short, and neutral
positions to hedge risk, generate income, and maintain equity growth over the long term) to trade
in equity, options, and futures.  It has no officers, directors, or trustees.
14. The Solaris Offshore Fund is a Cayman Islands corporation and mutual fund
company that feeds into the Solaris Fund and its sole investment is in the Solaris Fund.  Rooney
and Solaris Management generally treated the Solaris Offshore Fund and the Solaris Fund as one
and the same, and investors in the Solaris Offshore Fund were generally treated as investors in
the Solaris Fund.
15. Positron Corporation is a Texas corporation with its principal place of business in
Fishers, Indiana.  It is a molecular imaging company which manufactures and sells medical
imaging devices and radiopharmaceuticals.  Positron’s stock is registered pursuant to Section
12(g) of the Exchange Act [U.S.C. § 78l(g)] and trades on the NASDAQ OTC Bulletin Board.

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Its average daily volume in 2008 was 90,214 shares and its market capitalization was around $8
million.
FACTS
Background:  The Fund, Its Investment Strategy, and Operations
16. Rooney formed the Solaris Fund in mid-2003 and its offshore feeder fund -- the
Solaris Offshore Fund -- in mid-2005.  As of December 2008, the last time the Solaris Fund
issued financial statements, it had approximately 30 investors and reported assets of
$16,277,780.
17. The Solaris Fund is a pooled investment vehicle.  It was not registered as an
investment company in reliance on Section 3(c)(1) of the Investment Company Act of 1940.
18. Solaris Management is the general partner of and investment adviser to the Fund.
Rooney, as sole owner and managing partner of Solaris Management, was exclusively
responsible for the business of Solaris Management.  He handled the day-to-day management of
the Solaris Fund and made all investment decisions for the Fund on behalf of Solaris
Management.
19. As investment advisers to the Fund, Rooney and Solaris Management had an
obligation to act in the best interests of the Solaris Fund, exercise the utmost good faith, and
disclose all material facts.
20. Rooney and Solaris Management, by email, U.S. mail, and through listings on
websites, offered and sold limited partnership interests in the Solaris Fund from at least August
2003 through July 2008 and in the Solaris Offshore Fund from at least June 2005 through
September 2008.  The limited partnership interests are securities within the definition of Section

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2(a)(1) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. § 77b(a)(1)] and Section 3(a)(10) of the Exchange Act
[15 U.S.C. §78c(a)(10)].
21. To market the Fund, Rooney created the Fund’s Private Placement Memorandum
(“PPM”) and provided it to prospective investors in the Solaris Fund by email and U.S. mail.
The first PPM Rooney prepared for the Fund was dated July 1, 2003.  Rooney prepared three
subsequent versions of the PPM:  October 1, 2004, August 1, 2006, and June 1, 2007.
22. To market the Solaris Offshore Fund, Rooney created a PPM and provided it to
prospective investors by email and U.S. mail.  The first PPM was dated June 2005, which
Rooney updated in August 2007.
23. According to the PPMs, the Solaris Fund (and the Solaris Offshore Fund that
feeds into it) was “non-directional” – that is, its strategy was to “trade and establish long, short,
and neutral positions in equities and indices.  Through the use of options and futures, the fund is
able to offset or hedge a significant amount of risk. . . [and] is able to capitalize on shorter
timeframes thereby generating income on a month to month basis while maintaining equity
growth over the mid to long-term.”
24. Solaris Management provided Solaris Fund investors with periodic newsletters.
The newsletters were drafted and controlled by Rooney, and went out over his signature block.
25. From the inception of the Solaris Fund through December 2008, Solaris
Management, as the general partner of the Solaris Fund, charged and took a monthly
management fee of 2% of the net asset value of the Solaris Fund and a yearly performance fee of
20% of any net new profits.  In December 2008, Solaris Management stopped taking a
management fee and increased its performance fee to 25%.  The fees charged by Solaris

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Management belonged to Rooney as sole owner of Solaris Management.  Rooney has received
over $1.4 million in fees from the Fund over the lifetime of the Fund.
26. Between August 2003 and September 2008, 23 investors invested nearly $30
million in the Solaris Fund.  In 2008, the year in which the Solaris Fund made its largest
investments in Positron, six investors put in over $5.7 million into the Fund.
27. One of the investors in the Solaris Fund was the Solaris Offshore Fund which
effectively served as a feeder fund for the Solaris Fund.  Between June 2005 and September
2008, seven investors invested approximately $15,783,000 in the Solaris Offshore Fund.  All of
those assets were subsequently invested in the Solaris Fund.
28. At first, Rooney and Solaris Management caused the Fund to trade in accordance
with its stated strategy.  However, as shown below, Rooney abandoned the Fund’s non-
directional strategy by investing all the Fund’s assets in just one company – Positron.
Positron and Rooney’s Relationship with Positron
29. Positron has never been profitable, and had an accumulated deficit of $102.3
million as of December 31, 2010.  During the time of the Solaris Fund’s investments, Positron
reported significant losses – a $3.8 million net loss in 2005, a $6.6 million net loss in 2006, a
$7.8 million net loss in 2007, and an $8.9 million net loss in 2008.
30. Beginning with the audit for year end December 31, 2004, Positron’s auditor has
expressed substantial doubt as to Positron’s ability to continue as a going concern, and opined
that the company needed to increase its system sales or obtain additional capital in order to be
profitable.

31. Rooney was appointed to the board of directors of Positron in 2004 and has been
Chairman since June 26, 2004.  Rooney’s appointments were in connection with financing

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provided to Positron by Imagin Diagnostic Centres, Inc. (“Imagin”).  Rooney’s father, Patrick J.
Rooney, was Director of Corporation Development of Imagin.
32. Beginning in at least September 2005, Rooney received a salary from Positron.
Beginning in at least 2006, Rooney received options from Positron.
33. Rooney’s work for Positron went beyond the traditional duties of a chairman.  He
was involved in financing, strategic planning, road shows, sales meetings and sales calls, hiring
and firing, and generally building the business.  He worked more than 40 hours a week on behalf
of Positron.  He also had a role in raising funds for Positron, and decided how Positron was
going to raise money.  As Chairman of Positron, Rooney had an obligation to maximize
shareholder value and obtain financing at the lowest possible cost.
The Solaris Fund’s Undisclosed Investments in Positron

34. The Solaris Fund made numerous, significant, and undisclosed investments in
Positron while Rooney (a) was the company’s Chairman, (b) was receiving compensation from
Positron, and (c) was involved in obtaining financing for Positron.
35. In February 2005 and May 2005, the Solaris Fund paid $1 million and $400,000
respectively to Positron for convertible secured promissory notes with a 10% annual interest rate.
36. Between October 2005 and March 2008, Rooney caused the Solaris Fund to
invest $670,000 in Positron in undocumented “investments.”  Rooney cannot recall the terms of
these investments, which were as follows:
Date Amount
October 31, 2005 $200,000
January 18, 2006 $100,000
January 28, 2006 $120,000

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February 14, 2008 $75,000 (two transfers of
$70,000 and $5,000)
February 26, 2008 $53,000
February 28, 2008 $72,000
March 10, 2008 $50,000

37. In addition, beginning in June 2008, Rooney caused the Solaris Fund to invest an
additional $625,000 in Positron, which was documented in three promissory notes:  (a) a June 5,
2008 note for $275,000; (b) a July 1, 2008 note for $200,000, and (c) a July 22, 2008 note or
$150,000.  All of these notes were due on December 31, 2008, carried an interest rate of 0%, and
were unsecured.  Positron never paid these notes back.
38. Rooney, as Positron’s Chairman, together with Positron’s chief financial officer,
approved these transactions on behalf of Positron.  Rooney selected an interest rate of 0%
because it was best for Positron.  Rooney, as the sole principal of Solaris Management, also
approved these transactions on behalf of the Solaris Fund.  As such, he was on both sides of
these transactions.
39. Positron was almost always in need of cash.  In 2008, Positron was in precarious
financial condition and could not pay off its debts.  At some point in 2008, Positron was unable
to find a financial institution or investor to infuse capital.
40. Starting in August 2008, Rooney again caused the Solaris Fund to transfer money
to Positron in a series of undocumented investments at 0% interest.  Between August 5, 2008 and
October 30, 2008, the Solaris Fund invested an additional $480,000 in Positron as follows:

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Date  Amount
August 5, 2008 $25,000
August 12, 2008 $50,000
August 22, 2008 $75,000
September 9, 2008 $50,000
September 29, 2008 $30,000
October 2, 2008 $70,000
October 13, 2008 $30,000
October 24, 2008 $20,000
October 30, 2008 $130,000

41. In November 2008, the Solaris Fund made three more investments in Positron:
$14,200 on November 4, 2008, $20,000 on November 13, 2008, and $24,000 on November 14,
2008.  These amounts were consolidated into a promissory note for $58,200 dated November 15,
2008 at 0% interest.  Rooney made these investments on behalf of the Solaris Fund because
Positron needed the money.  Positron paid off $5,200 of the $58,000 and the remainder of the
debt was converted into preferred shares of Positron.
42. On November 18, 2008, the Solaris Fund, Positron, and another Rooney-related
company, Imagin Molecular Corporation (“IMC”), entered into a securities exchange agreement
(“SEA”) whereby the parties restructured their obligations to each other and the Solaris Fund
gained a controlling interest in Positron.  According to the SEA, the Solaris Fund held certain
shares of IMC stock and IMC owed it money.  Further, Positron owed money to the Solaris Fund
pursuant to documented and undocumented loans.  Positron owed IMC pursuant to two
promissory notes.  Pursuant to the SEA, IMC transferred its rights to payments on the notes to

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the Solaris Fund, and the Solaris Fund returned IMC stock to IMC and canceled any payment
due from Positron on the money the Solaris Fund had “invested” to that point in exchange for
100,000 shares of Positron convertible preferred stock.
43. In addition to directing $3,233,200 in loans from the Fund to Positron, Rooney
and Solaris Management also caused the Solaris Fund to purchase Positron stock on the open
market.  In 2007, the Fund spent $138,537 to purchase Positron stock.  Between January and
November 2008, Rooney and Solaris Management caused the Solaris Fund to liquidate all of its
remaining non-Positron investments and spent $235,590 to purchase more Positron stock.
44. Through its private transactions and public market purchases, the Solaris Fund
acquired a majority interest in Positron, and held 60% of Positron’s stock by November 2008.
45. The Solaris Fund currently owns over 1.1 billion shares of Positron stock.
Rooney’s and Solaris Management’s Misuse of Fund Assets
46. Rooney and Solaris Management misused the Fund’s assets for Rooney’s
personal benefit by causing the Solaris Fund to provide capital to Positron when it was unable to
otherwise obtain financing and at terms that disadvantaged the Solaris Fund.
47. As of the Solaris Fund’s first investment in Positron in February 2005, Rooney
had a conflict of interest between his duties and responsibilities to Positron as its Chairman, and
his fiduciary duties and responsibilities to the Solaris Fund and its investors as the investment
adviser to the Solaris Fund.  Rooney and Solaris Management engaged in self-dealing in
violation of their fiduciary obligations to the Solaris Fund by misusing the Fund’s assets to make
undisclosed investments in a financially distressed company to which Rooney had personal and
economic ties.

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48. In misusing the Fund’s assets by making the Positron investments, Rooney and
Solaris Management radically changed the Solaris Fund’s strategy.  Instead of the non-
directional fund that was promoted, offered and sold to investors, the Solaris Fund became a
single-stock fund with a concentrated, undiversified, and illiquid position in a cash-poor
company with a history of net losses.
49. This change in strategy – resulting from the misuse of the Fund’s assets –
benefitted Rooney personally.  As of July 2004, Rooney was Chairman of Positron, and had an
interest in seeing Positron continue its operations.  As of September 2005, Rooney had an
economic interest in Positron, as he received a salary from Positron.  His economic ties to
Positron strengthened when he obtained options in 2006.
50. Rooney’s and Solaris Management’s misuse of the Solaris Fund’s money and
change in investment strategy were material.  A reasonable investor would have found it
important that the Fund’s money was used contrary to its investment strategy, and that
investments were based not on disinterested advice but on the Fund’s investment advisers’
personal and financial ties.
51. Rooney and Solaris Management knew they were misusing the Fund’s assets and
were improperly making investment decisions for the Fund based on their interest in Positron.
All investment decisions were made by Rooney.
52. The Solaris Fund was required to file a Schedule 13D with the Commission after
it acquired a direct or beneficial ownership of more than 5% of a class of Positron’s stock.
Rooney and Solaris Management caused the Fund to acquire a majority interest in Positron’s
stock in November 2008, but they never caused the Fund to file a Schedule 13 D with the
Commission.

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Rooney’s and Solaris Management’s Misrepresentations
and Omissions to the Fund and its Investors

53. After four years, Rooney and Solaris Management finally disclosed the Solaris
Fund’s investment in Positron and his relationship with Positron in a March 24, 2009 newsletter
to Solaris Fund investors.  The newsletter closed with the typed words “Sincerely, Patrick
Rooney, Solaris Opportunity Fund.”  Rooney made the statements that appear in the March 24,
2009 newsletter and controlled its dissemination to investors.
54. In the March 24, 2009 newsletter, Rooney stated:  “Solaris trades stocks, options
and futures.  Since the Fund began in 2003, we have always had a mix of
daily/weekly/monthly/yearly positions.  Our trading has always been focused on generating
income on a monthly basis and taking a longer term hold in individual stocks.”
55. In the March 24, 2009 newsletter, Rooney disclosed that the Solaris Fund had
acquired a significant investment in Positron over the years, and that at the end of 2008, the
Solaris Fund acquired a 60% majority interest in Positron which represented 80% of the Solaris
Fund’s assets.
56. In the March 24, 2009 newsletter, Rooney represented that Positron “is a
company that I have known and now serve as its Chairman,” and claimed he “assumed this
position to gain insight into the dynamics of the company for the benefit of the Fund’s position.”
57. The representations in paragraph 56 were false when made.
58. At the time Rooney drafted the March 24, 2009 newsletter, Rooney did not just
“now” become Chairman; he had been Chairman of Positron since July 2004, prior to the Solaris
Fund’s investment in Positron.
59. Rooney did not become Chairman to benefit the Solaris Fund’s investment in
Positron.  He became Chairman many months before the Fund’s first investment in Positron, and

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was appointed in connection not with any Fund investment, bur rather in connection with an
investment made by a company with which his father was associated.
60. The misrepresentations in the March 24, 2009 newsletter were material in that
reasonable investors, in making their investment decisions, would find it important that Rooney
had been Chairman of Positron since 2004, during the time he caused the Solaris Fund to become
fully invested in Positron.  Investors would find it material that Rooney was making investment
decisions for the Solaris Fund based not on the best interests of the Solaris Fund or its investors,
but rather on his relationship with Positron.
61. At the time Rooney drafted and sent out the March 24, 2009 newsletter, Rooney
and Solaris Management knew, or recklessly disregarded, the facts set forth in paragraphs 56 to
60 above.
62. Prior to receiving the March 24, 2009 newsletter, investors in the Solaris Fund did
not know of the Solaris Fund’s investment in Positron, that it was the Fund’s sole investment, or
that Rooney was Chairman of Positron.
63. In the PPMs for the Solaris Fund and the Solaris Offshore Fund, Rooney and
Solaris Management continued to represent to investors and prospective investors that the Solaris
Fund (and its offshore feeder) were non-directional hedge funds that used options and futures to
offset risk, generate monthly income, and maintain equity growth.
64. These representations were false.  At the time Rooney and Solaris Management
disseminated the PPMs to certain prospective investors for the Solaris Fund and the Solaris
Offshore Fund, the Solaris Fund and its offshore feeder had radically shifted its strategy and no
longer employed a non-directional strategy.

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65. Rooney failed to revise the Solaris Fund’s or the Solaris Offshore Fund’s PPM to
disclose to certain investors and prospective investors the fundamental and radical change in the
Fund’s investment strategy.
66. The misrepresentations and omissions in the PPMs were material in that
reasonable investors, in making their investment decisions, would find it important that the
fundamental nature of the fund in which they were investing was different than what they had
been told and expected.
67. At the time Rooney and Solaris disseminated the PPMs to certain prospective
investors, they knew, or recklessly disregarded, the facts set forth in paragraphs 63 to 66 above.
68. In light of their representations to investors regarding the Solaris Fund’s non-
directional strategy, Rooney and Solaris Management’s failure to disclose to investors the
fundamental change in the nature and strategy of the Solaris Fund was fraudulent, deceptive, and
manipulative.
69. Rooney at no time sought the consent of the Solaris Fund or its investors to make
the investments in Positron.
COUNT I

Violations of Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Advisers Act
(Against Rooney and Solaris Management)

70. Paragraphs 1 through 69 are realleged and incorporated by reference as though
fully set forth herein.
71. Rooney and Solaris Management are investment advisers, as they were engaged
in the business of making investment decisions for the Solaris Fund regarding its investments in
securities in exchange for compensation.

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72. As set forth in paragraphs 1-69, Rooney and Solaris Management, while acting as
investment advisers, by the use of the means and instrumentalities of interstate commerce and of
the mails, directly and indirectly have employed and are employing devices, schemes and
artifices to defraud its clients and prospective clients; and have engaged and are engaging in
transactions, practices and courses of business which operate as a fraud or deceit upon their
clients and prospective clients.
73. Rooney and Solaris Management intentionally or recklessly employed and are
employing devices, schemes and artifices to defraud its clients and prospective clients.
74. By reason of the foregoing, Rooney and Solaris Management have violated
Sections 206(1) and (2) of the Advisers Act [15 U.S.C. § 80b-6(1) and 80b-6(2)].
COUNT II

Violations of Section 206(4) of the Advisers Act and
Rule 206(4)-8(a)(1) and 206(4)-8(a)(2) Thereunder
(Against Rooney and Solaris Management)

75. Paragraphs 1 through 69 are realleged and incorporated by reference as though
fully set forth herein.
76. As set forth in paragraphs 1 to 69, Rooney and Solaris Management, while acting
as investment advisers to a pooled investment vehicle, have made untrue statements of material
fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the
circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, to an investor or prospective
investor in the pooled investment vehicle or otherwise engaged in acts, practices, or courses of
business that are fraudulent, deceptive or manipulative with respect to an investor or prospective
investor in the pooled investment vehicle.

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77. By reason of the foregoing, Rooney and Solaris Management have violated
Section 206(4) of the Advisers Act [15 U.S.C. § 80b-6(4)] and Rule 206(4)-8(a)(1) and (a)(2)
thereunder [17 C.F.R. § 275.206(4)-8(a)(1) and (a)(2)].
COUNT III
Aiding and Abetting
Violations of Section 206(4) of the Advisers Act
and Rule 206(4)-8(a)(1) Thereunder
(Against Rooney)

78. Paragraphs 1 through 69 are realleged and incorporated by reference as though
fully set forth herein.
79. As set forth in paragraphs 1 to 69, Rooney has knowingly provided substantial
assistance to Solaris Management who, while acting as an investment adviser to a pooled
investment vehicle, by the use of the means and instrumentalities of interstate commerce and of
the mails, made untrue statements of material fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary to
make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not
misleading, to an investor or prospective investor in the pooled investment vehicle and otherwise
engaged in acts, practices, or courses of business that are fraudulent, deceptive or manipulative
with respect to an investor or prospective investor in the pooled investment vehicle.
80. By reason of the foregoing, Rooney aided and abetted Solaris Management’s
violations of Section 206(4) of the Advisers Act [15 U.S.C. § 80b-6(4)] a nd Rule 206(4)-8(a)(1)
thereunder [17 C.F.R. § 275.206(4)-8(a)(1)].

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COUNT IV
Violations of Section 17(a)(1) of the Securities Act
(Against Rooney and Solaris Management)

81. Paragraphs 1 through 69 are realleged and incorporated by reference as though
fully set forth herein.
82. Rooney and Solaris Management, in the offer and sale of securities, by the use of
the means and instruments of transportation or communication in interstate commerce or by use
of the mails, directly or indirectly, have employed and are employing devices, schemes and
artifices to defraud.
83. As set forth in paragraphs 1 to 69 above, Rooney and Solaris Management
intentionally or recklessly made the untrue statements and omissions and engaged in the
fraudulent devices, schemes, artifices, transactions, acts, practices and courses of business.
84. By reason of the foregoing, Rooney and Solaris Management have violated
Section 17(a)(1) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. § 77q(a)(1)].
COUNT V
Violations of Sections 17(a)(2) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act
(Against Rooney and Solaris Management)

85. Paragraphs 1 through 69 are realleged and incorporated by reference as though
fully set forth herein.
86. As set forth in paragraphs 1 to 69 above, Rooney and Solaris Management, in the
offer and sale of securities, by the use of the means and instruments of transportation or
communication in interstate commerce or by use of the mails, directly or indirectly, have
obtained money or property by means of untrue statements of material fact or omitting to state

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material facts necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances
under which they were made, not misleading.
87. As set forth in paragraphs 1 to 69, Rooney and Solaris Management, in the offer
and sale of securities, by the use of the means and instruments of transportation and
communication in interstate commerce and by the use of the mails, directly and indirectly,
engaged in transactions, practices and courses of business which operated or would have
operated as a fraud and deceit upon purchasers.
88. By reason of the foregoing, Rooney and Solaris Management have violated
Sections 17(a)(2) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. § 77q(a)(2) and § 77q(a)(3)].
COUNT VI
Violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and
Rule 10b-5(a), (b) and (c) Thereunder
(Against Rooney and Solaris Management)

89. Paragraphs 1 through 69 are realleged and incorporated by reference as though
fully set forth herein.
90. As set forth in paragraphs 1 to 69, Rooney and Solaris Management, in
connection with the purchase and sale of securities, by the use of the means and instrumentalities
of interstate commerce and by use of the mails, directly and indirectly, have employed devices,
schemes and artifices to defraud; have made untrue statements of material fact and have omitted
to state material facts necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the
circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; and have engaged in acts, practices
and courses of business which operated and will operate as a fraud and deceit upon purchasers
and sellers of such securities.

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91. Rooney and Solaris Management knew or recklessly disregarded the facts and
circumstances described above.
92. By reason of the foregoing, Rooney and Solaris Management have violated
Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78j(b)] and Rule 10b-5(a), (b), and (c)
thereunder [17 C.F. R. § 240.10b-5(a), (b), and (c)].
COUNT VII
Aiding and Abetting
Violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act  and
Rule 10b-5(b) Thereunder
(Against Rooney and Solaris Management)

93. Paragraphs 1 through 69 are realleged and incorporated by reference as though
fully set forth herein.
94. As set forth in paragraphs 1 to 69, Rooney and Solaris Management have
knowingly provided substantial assistance to the Solaris Fund, who, in connection with the
purchase and sale of securities, by the use of the means and instrumentalities of interstate
commerce and by use of the mails, directly and indirectly, knowingly or recklessly, made untrue
statements of material fact and have omitted to state material facts necessary in order to make the
statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.
95. By reason of the foregoing, Rooney and Solaris aided and abetted the Solaris
Fund’s violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5(b) thereunder.

21

COUNT VIII
Aiding and Abetting
Violations of Section 13(d)(1) of the Exchange Act
and Rule 13d-1 Thereunder
(Against Rooney and Solaris Management)

96. Paragraphs 1 through 69 are realleged and incorporated by reference as though
fully set forth herein.
97. Rooney and Solaris Management have knowingly provided substantial assistance
to the Solaris Fund who, after acquiring directly or indirectly a beneficial ownership interest of
more than 5% of a class of securities of Positron, did not file within ten days after such
acquisition, a Schedule 13D with the Commission.
98. By reason of the foregoing, Rooney and Solaris Management aided and abetted
Solaris Fund’s violation of Section 13(d)(1) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78m(d)(1)] and
Rule 13d-1 thereunder [17 C.F.R. § 240.13d-1].
RELIEF REQUESTED
 WHEREFORE, the Commission respectfully requests that this Court:
A. Find that Rooney and Solaris Management committed the violations
charged and alleged above;
B. Enter an Order permanently restraining and enjoining Rooney and Solaris
Management from violating Sections 206(1), 206(2), 206(4) of the Advisers Act  [15
U.S.C. § 80b-6(1), 80b-6(2), and 80b-6(4)] and Rule 206(4)-8 thereunder [17 C.F.R. §
275.206(4)-8],  Section 17(a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(3) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. §
77q(a)(1),  (a)(2) and (a)(3)], and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78j(b)]
and Rule 10b-5(a), (b), and (c) thereunder [17 C.F. R. § 240.10b-5(a), (b), and (c)];

22

C. Enter an Order permanently restraining and enjoining Rooney from aiding
and abetting any violations of Section 206(4) of the Advisers Act [15 U.S.C. § 80b-6(4)]
and Rule 206(4)-8(a)(1) thereunder [17 C.F.R. § 275.206(4)-8(a)(1)];
D. Enter an Order permanently restraining and enjoining Rooney and Solaris
Management from aiding and abetting any violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange
Act [15 U.S.C. § 78j(b)] and Rule 10b-5(b) thereunder [17 C.F. R. § 240.10b-5(b)], and
Section 13(d)(1) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78m(d)(1)] and Rule 13d-1 thereunder
[17 C.F.R. § 240.13d-1];
E. Enter an Order requiring Rooney and Solaris Management to disgorge all
profits or proceeds that they have received as a result of the acts and courses of conduct
complained of herein, with prejudgment interest;
F. Enter an Order, pursuant to Section 20(d) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C.
§ 77t(d)], Section 21(d)(3) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(3)], and Section
209(e) of the Advisers Act [15 U.S.C. § 80b-9(e)], requiring Rooney and Solaris
Management to pay a civil penalty;
G. Enter an Order, pursuant to Section 20(e) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C.
§ 77t(e) and Section 21(d)(2) of the Exchange Act  [15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(2)], barring
Rooney from serving as an officer or director of a public company;
H. Retain jurisdiction over this action, in accordance with the principals of
equity and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, in order to implement and carry out the
terms of all orders that may be entered or to entertain any suitable application or motion
for additional relief, within the jurisdiction of this Court; and

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I. Grant such other relief as this Court deems just and proper.

Dated:  November 18, 2011    Respectfully submitted,

       UNITED STATES SECURITIES &
       EXCHANGE COMMISSION

       By: ___s/Timothy S. Leiman

       Timothy S. Leiman (IL Bar No. 6270153)
       Linda T. Ieleja (IL Bar No. 6204335)
Andrew Shoenthal (IL Bar No. 6279795)
U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
Chicago Regional Office
       175 W. Jackson Blvd., Suite 900
       Chicago, IL  60604
       Telephone:  (312) 353-7390
       Facsimile:  (312) 353-7398

1 
 

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS 

EASTERN DIVISION 
 

____________________________________ 
                                                                  ) 
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND ) 
EXCHANGE COMMISSION,                )  

) 
   Plaintiff,                      ) 
                                                                        )  
 v.                                                         ) No.  11-cv-8264 
                                                                        ) 
PATRICK G. ROONEY and                         ) Hon. 
SOLARIS MANAGEMENT, LLC               ) 
____________________________________) 
 
 

COMPLAINT 
 

Plaintiff United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) alleges 

as follows: 

NATURE OF THE ACTION 

1.  Patrick G. Rooney (“Rooney”) and Solaris Management, LLC (“Solaris 

Management”), investment advisers to the Solaris Opportunity Fund, LP (the “Solaris Fund” or 

the “Fund”), a hedge fund, have defrauded the Fund and its investors by misusing the Fund’s 

assets to further their own interests.  From February 2005 to November 2008 – contrary to the 

Solaris Fund’s stated investment strategy and to the best interests of the Solaris Fund and its 

investors – Rooney and Solaris Management invested over $3.6 million of the Fund’s money in 

Positron Corporation (“Positron”), a financially troubled microcap company of which Rooney 

has been Chairman since July 2004.   

2. In essence, Rooney and Solaris Management used the Fund as Positron’s piggy 

bank, and caused the Fund to finance Positron when it had no other sources of funding.  Rooney 

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and Solaris Management invested the Fund’s assets in Positron through both private transactions 

and market purchases of Positron’s common stock.  Many of the private transactions were 

undocumented while other investments were loans to Positron at 0% interest.  By November 

2008, the Fund had all its assets invested in Positron.  The Fund now owns over 1.1 billion 

shares of Positron -- over 60% of the company.   

3. Rooney hid the Positron investment – and his affiliation with Positron – from 

Solaris Fund investors for four years, until March 2009.  All the while, Rooney and Solaris 

Management misled investors into believing that they were invested in a diversified hedge fund 

which protected them from market movements and that the Fund’s money was being invested by 

a disinterested investment adviser acting in their best interests.    

4. Although Rooney eventually revealed to investors his relationship with Positron, 

he lied in telling them that he became Chairman to safeguard the Solaris Funds’ investment.    

5. In making the Positron investment, Rooney and Solaris Management radically 

changed the Fund’s non-directional investment strategy, and saddled the Fund with a 

concentrated, undiversified, and illiquid position in a cash poor company with a lengthy track 

record of losses.  Notwithstanding that radical change, Rooney and Solaris Management (a) 

continued to distribute offering materials to prospective and existing investors in the Solaris 

Fund – and in the Fund’s offshore feeder fund – that misrepresented the funds’ investment 

strategy, and (b) failed to disclose to prospective and existing investors the true nature of the 

Fund. 

 

 

 

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JURISDICTION AND VENUE 

6. The Commission brings this action pursuant to the authority conferred on it by 

Section 20(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) [15 U.S.C. § 77t(b)], Sections 

21(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) [15 U.S.C. §§ 78u(d) and 

78u(e)], and Section 209(d) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”) [15 

U.S.C. § 80b-9(d)]. 

7. This Court has jurisdiction over this action pursuant to Section 22(a) of the 

Securities Act [15 U.S.C. § 77v], Section 27 of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78aa], and 

Section 214(a) of the Advisers Act [15 U.S.C. §§ 80b-9(d) and 80b-14] and 28 U.S.C. § 1331.   

8. Venue is proper in this Court pursuant to Section 22(a) of the Securities Act [15 

U.S.C. § 77v(a)], Section 27 of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. §78aa], and Section 214(a) of the 

Advisers Act [15 U.S.C. § 80b-14]. 

9. All of the Defendants reside in the Northern District of Illinois, and the acts, 

practices, and courses of business constituting the violations alleged herein occurred within the 

jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and elsewhere. 

10. Rooney and Solaris Management, directly and indirectly, have made, and are 

making, use of the means and instrumentalities of interstate commerce and of the mails in 

connection with the acts, practices and courses of business alleged herein in the Northern District 

of Illinois and elsewhere. 

 

 

 

 

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DEFENDANTS 

11. Patrick G. Rooney, age 48, a resident of Oakbrook, Illinois, is the founder, sole 

owner, and managing partner of Solaris Management.  From July 2004 to the present, he has 

served as Chairman of the Board of Positron, and since February 2009 he has also been 

Positron’s Chief Executive Officer.   

12.  Solaris Management, LLC is a Delaware limited liability company with its 

principal place of business in Oakbrook, Illinois.  It is the general partner and investment adviser 

of the Solaris Fund and the Solaris Offshore Fund.  

RELATED ENTITIES 

13. The Solaris Opportunity Fund, LP is a Delaware limited partnership and a hedge 

fund that promotes itself as using a “non-directional” strategy (i.e. using long, short, and neutral 

positions to hedge risk, generate income, and maintain equity growth over the long term) to trade 

in equity, options, and futures.  It has no officers, directors, or trustees. 

14. The Solaris Offshore Fund is a Cayman Islands corporation and mutual fund 

company that feeds into the Solaris Fund and its sole investment is in the Solaris Fund.  Rooney 

and Solaris Management generally treated the Solaris Offshore Fund and the Solaris Fund as one 

and the same, and investors in the Solaris Offshore Fund were generally treated as investors in 

the Solaris Fund. 

15. Positron Corporation is a Texas corporation with its principal place of business in 

Fishers, Indiana.  It is a molecular imaging company which manufactures and sells medical 

imaging devices and radiopharmaceuticals.  Positron’s stock is registered pursuant to Section 

12(g) of the Exchange Act [U.S.C. § 78l(g)] and trades on the NASDAQ OTC Bulletin Board.  

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Its average daily volume in 2008 was 90,214 shares and its market capitalization was around $8 

million.     

FACTS 

Background:  The Fund, Its Investment Strategy, and Operations 

16. Rooney formed the Solaris Fund in mid-2003 and its offshore feeder fund -- the 

Solaris Offshore Fund -- in mid-2005.  As of December 2008, the last time the Solaris Fund 

issued financial statements, it had approximately 30 investors and reported assets of 

$16,277,780. 

17. The Solaris Fund is a pooled investment vehicle.  It was not registered as an 

investment company in reliance on Section 3(c)(1) of the Investment Company Act of 1940.   

18. Solaris Management is the general partner of and investment adviser to the Fund.  

Rooney, as sole owner and managing partner of Solaris Management, was exclusively 

responsible for the business of Solaris Management.  He handled the day-to-day management of 

the Solaris Fund and made all investment decisions for the Fund on behalf of Solaris 

Management.   

19. As investment advisers to the Fund, Rooney and Solaris Management had an 

obligation to act in the best interests of the Solaris Fund, exercise the utmost good faith, and 

disclose all material facts.   

20. Rooney and Solaris Management, by email, U.S. mail, and through listings on 

websites, offered and sold limited partnership interests in the Solaris Fund from at least August 

2003 through July 2008 and in the Solaris Offshore Fund from at least June 2005 through 

September 2008.  The limited partnership interests are securities within the definition of Section 

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2(a)(1) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. § 77b(a)(1)] and Section 3(a)(10) of the Exchange Act 

[15 U.S.C. §78c(a)(10)].   

21. To market the Fund, Rooney created the Fund’s Private Placement Memorandum 

(“PPM”) and provided it to prospective investors in the Solaris Fund by email and U.S. mail.  

The first PPM Rooney prepared for the Fund was dated July 1, 2003.  Rooney prepared three 

subsequent versions of the PPM:  October 1, 2004, August 1, 2006, and June 1, 2007.     

22. To market the Solaris Offshore Fund, Rooney created a PPM and provided it to 

prospective investors by email and U.S. mail.  The first PPM was dated June 2005, which 

Rooney updated in August 2007.    

23. According to the PPMs, the Solaris Fund (and the Solaris Offshore Fund that 

feeds into it) was “non-directional” – that is, its strategy was to “trade and establish long, short, 

and neutral positions in equities and indices.  Through the use of options and futures, the fund is 

able to offset or hedge a significant amount of risk. . . [and] is able to capitalize on shorter 

timeframes thereby generating income on a month to month basis while maintaining equity 

growth over the mid to long-term.”     

24. Solaris Management provided Solaris Fund investors with periodic newsletters.  

The newsletters were drafted and controlled by Rooney, and went out over his signature block.   

25. From the inception of the Solaris Fund through December 2008, Solaris 

Management, as the general partner of the Solaris Fund, charged and took a monthly 

management fee of 2% of the net asset value of the Solaris Fund and a yearly performance fee of 

20% of any net new profits.  In December 2008, Solaris Management stopped taking a 

management fee and increased its performance fee to 25%.  The fees charged by Solaris 

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Management belonged to Rooney as sole owner of Solaris Management.  Rooney has received 

over $1.4 million in fees from the Fund over the lifetime of the Fund.   

26. Between August 2003 and September 2008, 23 investors invested nearly $30 

million in the Solaris Fund.  In 2008, the year in which the Solaris Fund made its largest 

investments in Positron, six investors put in over $5.7 million into the Fund.   

27. One of the investors in the Solaris Fund was the Solaris Offshore Fund which 

effectively served as a feeder fund for the Solaris Fund.  Between June 2005 and September 

2008, seven investors invested approximately $15,783,000 in the Solaris Offshore Fund.  All of 

those assets were subsequently invested in the Solaris Fund.   

28. At first, Rooney and Solaris Management caused the Fund to trade in accordance 

with its stated strategy.  However, as shown below, Rooney abandoned the Fund’s non-

directional strategy by investing all the Fund’s assets in just one company – Positron. 

Positron and Rooney’s Relationship with Positron 

29. Positron has never been profitable, and had an accumulated deficit of $102.3 

million as of December 31, 2010.  During the time of the Solaris Fund’s investments, Positron 

reported significant losses – a $3.8 million net loss in 2005, a $6.6 million net loss in 2006, a 

$7.8 million net loss in 2007, and an $8.9 million net loss in 2008. 

30. Beginning with the audit for year end December 31, 2004, Positron’s auditor has 

expressed substantial doubt as to Positron’s ability to continue as a going concern, and opined 

that the company needed to increase its system sales or obtain additional capital in order to be 

profitable.   

31. Rooney was appointed to the board of directors of Positron in 2004 and has been 

Chairman since June 26, 2004.  Rooney’s appointments were in connection with financing 

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provided to Positron by Imagin Diagnostic Centres, Inc. (“Imagin”).  Rooney’s father, Patrick J. 

Rooney, was Director of Corporation Development of Imagin. 

32. Beginning in at least September 2005, Rooney received a salary from Positron.  

Beginning in at least 2006, Rooney received options from Positron. 

33. Rooney’s work for Positron went beyond the traditional duties of a chairman.  He 

was involved in financing, strategic planning, road shows, sales meetings and sales calls, hiring 

and firing, and generally building the business.  He worked more than 40 hours a week on behalf 

of Positron.  He also had a role in raising funds for Positron, and decided how Positron was 

going to raise money.  As Chairman of Positron, Rooney had an obligation to maximize 

shareholder value and obtain financing at the lowest possible cost.   

The Solaris Fund’s Undisclosed Investments in Positron 

34. The Solaris Fund made numerous, significant, and undisclosed investments in 

Positron while Rooney (a) was the company’s Chairman, (b) was receiving compensation from 

Positron, and (c) was involved in obtaining financing for Positron.   

35. In February 2005 and May 2005, the Solaris Fund paid $1 million and $400,000 

respectively to Positron for convertible secured promissory notes with a 10% annual interest rate.   

36. Between October 2005 and March 2008, Rooney caused the Solaris Fund to 

invest $670,000 in Positron in undocumented “investments.”  Rooney cannot recall the terms of 

these investments, which were as follows: 

Date Amount 

October 31, 2005 $200,000 

January 18, 2006 $100,000 

January 28, 2006 $120,000 

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February 14, 2008 $75,000 (two transfers of 
$70,000 and $5,000) 

February 26, 2008 $53,000 

February 28, 2008 $72,000 

March 10, 2008 $50,000 

 

37. In addition, beginning in June 2008, Rooney caused the Solaris Fund to invest an 

additional $625,000 in Positron, which was documented in three promissory notes:  (a) a June 5, 

2008 note for $275,000; (b) a July 1, 2008 note for $200,000, and (c) a July 22, 2008 note or 

$150,000.  All of these notes were due on December 31, 2008, carried an interest rate of 0%, and 

were unsecured.  Positron never paid these notes back.     

38. Rooney, as Positron’s Chairman, together with Positron’s chief financial officer, 

approved these transactions on behalf of Positron.  Rooney selected an interest rate of 0% 

because it was best for Positron.  Rooney, as the sole principal of Solaris Management, also 

approved these transactions on behalf of the Solaris Fund.  As such, he was on both sides of 

these transactions.   

39. Positron was almost always in need of cash.  In 2008, Positron was in precarious 

financial condition and could not pay off its debts.  At some point in 2008, Positron was unable 

to find a financial institution or investor to infuse capital. 

40. Starting in August 2008, Rooney again caused the Solaris Fund to transfer money 

to Positron in a series of undocumented investments at 0% interest.  Between August 5, 2008 and 

October 30, 2008, the Solaris Fund invested an additional $480,000 in Positron as follows:  

 

  

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Date  Amount 

August 5, 2008 $25,000 

August 12, 2008 $50,000 

August 22, 2008 $75,000 

September 9, 2008 $50,000 

September 29, 2008 $30,000 

October 2, 2008 $70,000 

October 13, 2008 $30,000 

October 24, 2008 $20,000 

October 30, 2008 $130,000 

 

41. In November 2008, the Solaris Fund made three more investments in Positron:  

$14,200 on November 4, 2008, $20,000 on November 13, 2008, and $24,000 on November 14, 

2008.  These amounts were consolidated into a promissory note for $58,200 dated November 15, 

2008 at 0% interest.  Rooney made these investments on behalf of the Solaris Fund because 

Positron needed the money.  Positron paid off $5,200 of the $58,000 and the remainder of the 

debt was converted into preferred shares of Positron.   

42. On November 18, 2008, the Solaris Fund, Positron, and another Rooney-related 

company, Imagin Molecular Corporation (“IMC”), entered into a securities exchange agreement 

(“SEA”) whereby the parties restructured their obligations to each other and the Solaris Fund 

gained a controlling interest in Positron.  According to the SEA, the Solaris Fund held certain 

shares of IMC stock and IMC owed it money.  Further, Positron owed money to the Solaris Fund 

pursuant to documented and undocumented loans.  Positron owed IMC pursuant to two 

promissory notes.  Pursuant to the SEA, IMC transferred its rights to payments on the notes to 

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the Solaris Fund, and the Solaris Fund returned IMC stock to IMC and canceled any payment 

due from Positron on the money the Solaris Fund had “invested” to that point in exchange for 

100,000 shares of Positron convertible preferred stock.   

43. In addition to directing $3,233,200 in loans from the Fund to Positron, Rooney 

and Solaris Management also caused the Solaris Fund to purchase Positron stock on the open 

market.  In 2007, the Fund spent $138,537 to purchase Positron stock.  Between January and 

November 2008, Rooney and Solaris Management caused the Solaris Fund to liquidate all of its 

remaining non-Positron investments and spent $235,590 to purchase more Positron stock.     

44. Through its private transactions and public market purchases, the Solaris Fund 

acquired a majority interest in Positron, and held 60% of Positron’s stock by November 2008. 

45. The Solaris Fund currently owns over 1.1 billion shares of Positron stock.   

Rooney’s and Solaris Management’s Misuse of Fund Assets 

46. Rooney and Solaris Management misused the Fund’s assets for Rooney’s 

personal benefit by causing the Solaris Fund to provide capital to Positron when it was unable to 

otherwise obtain financing and at terms that disadvantaged the Solaris Fund. 

47. As of the Solaris Fund’s first investment in Positron in February 2005, Rooney 

had a conflict of interest between his duties and responsibilities to Positron as its Chairman, and 

his fiduciary duties and responsibilities to the Solaris Fund and its investors as the investment 

adviser to the Solaris Fund.  Rooney and Solaris Management engaged in self-dealing in 

violation of their fiduciary obligations to the Solaris Fund by misusing the Fund’s assets to make 

undisclosed investments in a financially distressed company to which Rooney had personal and 

economic ties.   

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48. In misusing the Fund’s assets by making the Positron investments, Rooney and 

Solaris Management radically changed the Solaris Fund’s strategy.  Instead of the non-

directional fund that was promoted, offered and sold to investors, the Solaris Fund became a 

single-stock fund with a concentrated, undiversified, and illiquid position in a cash-poor 

company with a history of net losses.   

49. This change in strategy – resulting from the misuse of the Fund’s assets – 

benefitted Rooney personally.  As of July 2004, Rooney was Chairman of Positron, and had an 

interest in seeing Positron continue its operations.  As of September 2005, Rooney had an 

economic interest in Positron, as he received a salary from Positron.  His economic ties to 

Positron strengthened when he obtained options in 2006.      

50. Rooney’s and Solaris Management’s misuse of the Solaris Fund’s money and 

change in investment strategy were material.  A reasonable investor would have found it 

important that the Fund’s money was used contrary to its investment strategy, and that 

investments were based not on disinterested advice but on the Fund’s investment advisers’ 

personal and financial ties.   

51. Rooney and Solaris Management knew they were misusing the Fund’s assets and 

were improperly making investment decisions for the Fund based on their interest in Positron.  

All investment decisions were made by Rooney.      

52. The Solaris Fund was required to file a Schedule 13D with the Commission after 

it acquired a direct or beneficial ownership of more than 5% of a class of Positron’s stock.  

Rooney and Solaris Management caused the Fund to acquire a majority interest in Positron’s 

stock in November 2008, but they never caused the Fund to file a Schedule 13 D with the 

Commission.       

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Rooney’s and Solaris Management’s Misrepresentations  
and Omissions to the Fund and its Investors 

 
53. After four years, Rooney and Solaris Management finally disclosed the Solaris 

Fund’s investment in Positron and his relationship with Positron in a March 24, 2009 newsletter 

to Solaris Fund investors.  The newsletter closed with the typed words “Sincerely, Patrick 

Rooney, Solaris Opportunity Fund.”  Rooney made the statements that appear in the March 24, 

2009 newsletter and controlled its dissemination to investors. 

54. In the March 24, 2009 newsletter, Rooney stated:  “Solaris trades stocks, options 

and futures.  Since the Fund began in 2003, we have always had a mix of 

daily/weekly/monthly/yearly positions.  Our trading has always been focused on generating 

income on a monthly basis and taking a longer term hold in individual stocks.” 

55. In the March 24, 2009 newsletter, Rooney disclosed that the Solaris Fund had 

acquired a significant investment in Positron over the years, and that at the end of 2008, the 

Solaris Fund acquired a 60% majority interest in Positron which represented 80% of the Solaris 

Fund’s assets.   

56. In the March 24, 2009 newsletter, Rooney represented that Positron “is a 

company that I have known and now serve as its Chairman,” and claimed he “assumed this 

position to gain insight into the dynamics of the company for the benefit of the Fund’s position.”   

57. The representations in paragraph 56 were false when made.   

58. At the time Rooney drafted the March 24, 2009 newsletter, Rooney did not just 

“now” become Chairman; he had been Chairman of Positron since July 2004, prior to the Solaris 

Fund’s investment in Positron.   

59. Rooney did not become Chairman to benefit the Solaris Fund’s investment in 

Positron.  He became Chairman many months before the Fund’s first investment in Positron, and 

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was appointed in connection not with any Fund investment, bur rather in connection with an 

investment made by a company with which his father was associated.   

60. The misrepresentations in the March 24, 2009 newsletter were material in that 

reasonable investors, in making their investment decisions, would find it important that Rooney 

had been Chairman of Positron since 2004, during the time he caused the Solaris Fund to become 

fully invested in Positron.  Investors would find it material that Rooney was making investment 

decisions for the Solaris Fund based not on the best interests of the Solaris Fund or its investors, 

but rather on his relationship with Positron. 

61. At the time Rooney drafted and sent out the March 24, 2009 newsletter, Rooney 

and Solaris Management knew, or recklessly disregarded, the facts set forth in paragraphs 56 to 

60 above.   

62. Prior to receiving the March 24, 2009 newsletter, investors in the Solaris Fund did 

not know of the Solaris Fund’s investment in Positron, that it was the Fund’s sole investment, or 

that Rooney was Chairman of Positron.   

63. In the PPMs for the Solaris Fund and the Solaris Offshore Fund, Rooney and 

Solaris Management continued to represent to investors and prospective investors that the Solaris 

Fund (and its offshore feeder) were non-directional hedge funds that used options and futures to 

offset risk, generate monthly income, and maintain equity growth.   

64. These representations were false.  At the time Rooney and Solaris Management 

disseminated the PPMs to certain prospective investors for the Solaris Fund and the Solaris 

Offshore Fund, the Solaris Fund and its offshore feeder had radically shifted its strategy and no 

longer employed a non-directional strategy.   

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65. Rooney failed to revise the Solaris Fund’s or the Solaris Offshore Fund’s PPM to 

disclose to certain investors and prospective investors the fundamental and radical change in the 

Fund’s investment strategy. 

66. The misrepresentations and omissions in the PPMs were material in that 

reasonable investors, in making their investment decisions, would find it important that the 

fundamental nature of the fund in which they were investing was different than what they had 

been told and expected. 

67. At the time Rooney and Solaris disseminated the PPMs to certain prospective 

investors, they knew, or recklessly disregarded, the facts set forth in paragraphs 63 to 66 above. 

68. In light of their representations to investors regarding the Solaris Fund’s non-

directional strategy, Rooney and Solaris Management’s failure to disclose to investors the 

fundamental change in the nature and strategy of the Solaris Fund was fraudulent, deceptive, and 

manipulative.   

69. Rooney at no time sought the consent of the Solaris Fund or its investors to make 

the investments in Positron.   

COUNT I 

Violations of Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Advisers Act 
(Against Rooney and Solaris Management)  

 
70. Paragraphs 1 through 69 are realleged and incorporated by reference as though 

fully set forth herein. 

71. Rooney and Solaris Management are investment advisers, as they were engaged 

in the business of making investment decisions for the Solaris Fund regarding its investments in 

securities in exchange for compensation.   

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72. As set forth in paragraphs 1-69, Rooney and Solaris Management, while acting as 

investment advisers, by the use of the means and instrumentalities of interstate commerce and of 

the mails, directly and indirectly have employed and are employing devices, schemes and 

artifices to defraud its clients and prospective clients; and have engaged and are engaging in 

transactions, practices and courses of business which operate as a fraud or deceit upon their 

clients and prospective clients. 

73. Rooney and Solaris Management intentionally or recklessly employed and are 

employing devices, schemes and artifices to defraud its clients and prospective clients. 

74. By reason of the foregoing, Rooney and Solaris Management have violated 

Sections 206(1) and (2) of the Advisers Act [15 U.S.C. § 80b-6(1) and 80b-6(2)]. 

COUNT II 

Violations of Section 206(4) of the Advisers Act and  
Rule 206(4)-8(a)(1) and 206(4)-8(a)(2) Thereunder 

(Against Rooney and Solaris Management)  
 

75. Paragraphs 1 through 69 are realleged and incorporated by reference as though 

fully set forth herein. 

76. As set forth in paragraphs 1 to 69, Rooney and Solaris Management, while acting 

as investment advisers to a pooled investment vehicle, have made untrue statements of material 

fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the 

circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, to an investor or prospective 

investor in the pooled investment vehicle or otherwise engaged in acts, practices, or courses of 

business that are fraudulent, deceptive or manipulative with respect to an investor or prospective 

investor in the pooled investment vehicle. 

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77. By reason of the foregoing, Rooney and Solaris Management have violated 

Section 206(4) of the Advisers Act [15 U.S.C. § 80b-6(4)] and Rule 206(4)-8(a)(1) and (a)(2) 

thereunder [17 C.F.R. § 275.206(4)-8(a)(1) and (a)(2)].    

COUNT III 

Aiding and Abetting 
Violations of Section 206(4) of the Advisers Act  

and Rule 206(4)-8(a)(1) Thereunder 
(Against Rooney) 

 
78. Paragraphs 1 through 69 are realleged and incorporated by reference as though 

fully set forth herein.   

79. As set forth in paragraphs 1 to 69, Rooney has knowingly provided substantial 

assistance to Solaris Management who, while acting as an investment adviser to a pooled 

investment vehicle, by the use of the means and instrumentalities of interstate commerce and of 

the mails, made untrue statements of material fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary to 

make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not 

misleading, to an investor or prospective investor in the pooled investment vehicle and otherwise 

engaged in acts, practices, or courses of business that are fraudulent, deceptive or manipulative 

with respect to an investor or prospective investor in the pooled investment vehicle. 

80. By reason of the foregoing, Rooney aided and abetted Solaris Management’s 

violations of Section 206(4) of the Advisers Act [15 U.S.C. § 80b-6(4)] and Rule 206(4)-8(a)(1) 

thereunder [17 C.F.R. § 275.206(4)-8(a)(1)].   

 

 

 

 

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COUNT IV 

Violations of Section 17(a)(1) of the Securities Act 
(Against Rooney and Solaris Management)  

 
81. Paragraphs 1 through 69 are realleged and incorporated by reference as though 

fully set forth herein.   

82. Rooney and Solaris Management, in the offer and sale of securities, by the use of 

the means and instruments of transportation or communication in interstate commerce or by use 

of the mails, directly or indirectly, have employed and are employing devices, schemes and 

artifices to defraud.   

83. As set forth in paragraphs 1 to 69 above, Rooney and Solaris Management 

intentionally or recklessly made the untrue statements and omissions and engaged in the 

fraudulent devices, schemes, artifices, transactions, acts, practices and courses of business. 

84. By reason of the foregoing, Rooney and Solaris Management have violated 

Section 17(a)(1) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. § 77q(a)(1)]. 

COUNT V 

Violations of Sections 17(a)(2) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act 
(Against Rooney and Solaris Management)  

 
85. Paragraphs 1 through 69 are realleged and incorporated by reference as though 

fully set forth herein. 

86. As set forth in paragraphs 1 to 69 above, Rooney and Solaris Management, in the 

offer and sale of securities, by the use of the means and instruments of transportation or 

communication in interstate commerce or by use of the mails, directly or indirectly, have 

obtained money or property by means of untrue statements of material fact or omitting to state 

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material facts necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances 

under which they were made, not misleading. 

87. As set forth in paragraphs 1 to 69, Rooney and Solaris Management, in the offer 

and sale of securities, by the use of the means and instruments of transportation and 

communication in interstate commerce and by the use of the mails, directly and indirectly, 

engaged in transactions, practices and courses of business which operated or would have 

operated as a fraud and deceit upon purchasers. 

88. By reason of the foregoing, Rooney and Solaris Management have violated 

Sections 17(a)(2) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. § 77q(a)(2) and § 77q(a)(3)]. 

COUNT VI 

Violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and  
Rule 10b-5(a), (b) and (c) Thereunder 

(Against Rooney and Solaris Management)  
 

89. Paragraphs 1 through 69 are realleged and incorporated by reference as though 

fully set forth herein. 

90. As set forth in paragraphs 1 to 69, Rooney and Solaris Management, in 

connection with the purchase and sale of securities, by the use of the means and instrumentalities 

of interstate commerce and by use of the mails, directly and indirectly, have employed devices, 

schemes and artifices to defraud; have made untrue statements of material fact and have omitted 

to state material facts necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the 

circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; and have engaged in acts, practices 

and courses of business which operated and will operate as a fraud and deceit upon purchasers 

and sellers of such securities.   

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91. Rooney and Solaris Management knew or recklessly disregarded the facts and 

circumstances described above.     

92. By reason of the foregoing, Rooney and Solaris Management have violated 

Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78j(b)] and Rule 10b-5(a), (b), and (c) 

thereunder [17 C.F. R. § 240.10b-5(a), (b), and (c)].   

COUNT VII 

Aiding and Abetting  
Violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act  and 

Rule 10b-5(b) Thereunder 
(Against Rooney and Solaris Management) 

 
93. Paragraphs 1 through 69 are realleged and incorporated by reference as though 

fully set forth herein. 

94. As set forth in paragraphs 1 to 69, Rooney and Solaris Management have 

knowingly provided substantial assistance to the Solaris Fund, who, in connection with the 

purchase and sale of securities, by the use of the means and instrumentalities of interstate 

commerce and by use of the mails, directly and indirectly, knowingly or recklessly, made untrue 

statements of material fact and have omitted to state material facts necessary in order to make the 

statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.   

95. By reason of the foregoing, Rooney and Solaris aided and abetted the Solaris 

Fund’s violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5(b) thereunder.   

 

 

 

 

   

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COUNT VIII 

Aiding and Abetting  
Violations of Section 13(d)(1) of the Exchange Act  

and Rule 13d-1 Thereunder  
(Against Rooney and Solaris Management) 

 
96. Paragraphs 1 through 69 are realleged and incorporated by reference as though 

fully set forth herein. 

97. Rooney and Solaris Management have knowingly provided substantial assistance 

to the Solaris Fund who, after acquiring directly or indirectly a beneficial ownership interest of 

more than 5% of a class of securities of Positron, did not file within ten days after such 

acquisition, a Schedule 13D with the Commission. 

98. By reason of the foregoing, Rooney and Solaris Management aided and abetted 

Solaris Fund’s violation of Section 13(d)(1) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78m(d)(1)] and 

Rule 13d-1 thereunder [17 C.F.R. § 240.13d-1].   

RELIEF REQUESTED 

 WHEREFORE, the Commission respectfully requests that this Court: 

A. Find that Rooney and Solaris Management committed the violations 

charged and alleged above; 

B. Enter an Order permanently restraining and enjoining Rooney and Solaris 

Management from violating Sections 206(1), 206(2), 206(4) of the Advisers Act  [15 

U.S.C. § 80b-6(1), 80b-6(2), and 80b-6(4)] and Rule 206(4)-8 thereunder [17 C.F.R. § 

275.206(4)-8],  Section 17(a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(3) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. § 

77q(a)(1),  (a)(2) and (a)(3)], and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78j(b)] 

and Rule 10b-5(a), (b), and (c) thereunder [17 C.F. R. § 240.10b-5(a), (b), and (c)]; 

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C. Enter an Order permanently restraining and enjoining Rooney from aiding 

and abetting any violations of Section 206(4) of the Advisers Act [15 U.S.C. § 80b-6(4)] 

and Rule 206(4)-8(a)(1) thereunder [17 C.F.R. § 275.206(4)-8(a)(1)];   

D. Enter an Order permanently restraining and enjoining Rooney and Solaris 

Management from aiding and abetting any violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange 

Act [15 U.S.C. § 78j(b)] and Rule 10b-5(b) thereunder [17 C.F. R. § 240.10b-5(b)], and 

Section 13(d)(1) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78m(d)(1)] and Rule 13d-1 thereunder 

[17 C.F.R. § 240.13d-1]; 

E. Enter an Order requiring Rooney and Solaris Management to disgorge all 

profits or proceeds that they have received as a result of the acts and courses of conduct 

complained of herein, with prejudgment interest;  

F. Enter an Order, pursuant to Section 20(d) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. 

§ 77t(d)], Section 21(d)(3) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(3)], and Section 

209(e) of the Advisers Act [15 U.S.C. § 80b-9(e)], requiring Rooney and Solaris 

Management to pay a civil penalty;  

G. Enter an Order, pursuant to Section 20(e) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. 

§ 77t(e) and Section 21(d)(2) of the Exchange Act  [15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(2)], barring 

Rooney from serving as an officer or director of a public company;  

H. Retain jurisdiction over this action, in accordance with the principals of 

equity and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, in order to implement and carry out the 

terms of all orders that may be entered or to entertain any suitable application or motion 

for additional relief, within the jurisdiction of this Court; and 

 

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I. Grant such other relief as this Court deems just and proper. 

 
 

Dated:  November 18, 2011    Respectfully submitted, 

 

       UNITED STATES SECURITIES &  
       EXCHANGE COMMISSION 
 
       By: ___s/Timothy S. Leiman 
 
       Timothy S. Leiman (IL Bar No. 6270153) 
       Linda T. Ieleja (IL Bar No. 6204335) 

Andrew Shoenthal (IL Bar No. 6279795) 
U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission 
Chicago Regional Office 

       175 W. Jackson Blvd., Suite 900 
       Chicago, IL  60604 
       Telephone:  (312) 353-7390 
       Facsimile:  (312) 353-7398 
 

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