Media

David Hansen repeatedly claimed—under oath—that the specific statements in the O’Rourke article were false, misleading, speculative, and overstated. He made these claims not once, but twice: first during oral examination by Barry Honig’s attorney, Webber, and again in response to an Interrogatory. In both instances, Hansen confirmed that his statements were made under oath and subject to perjury.
Throughout the examination, Webber gave Hansen multiple opportunities to clarify or correct his previous sworn statements and interrogatory responses, but Hansen stood by his claims. Webber then presented Hansen with marketing materials that Hansen himself had authored and used at various investor conferences—materials Hansen admitted were factual.
When shown that the statements in the O’Rourke article aligned word-for-word with his own presentations, Hansen was forced to concede that he had lied in both his oral testimony and written responses. He ultimately admitted that it appeared O’Rourke had simply copied and pasted Hansen’s own words into the article.

Hansen’s Supporting Statements

David Hansen was the CEO of MabVax Therapeutics Inc. Hansen was the only officer of a publicly traded company who was investigated but not charged by the SEC in its 2018 complaint against Barry Honig. Hansen made various claims that Honig ‘controlled’ his decisions and the actions of the company, without providing any specific details. Hansen made claims that Honig caused John O’Rourke to publish articles about MabVax which contained fraudulent information about the company and overstated its prospects, for the purpose of conducting a pump-and-dump campaign.

David Hansen claimed that the specific statements in the O’Rourke article which were false, misleading, speculative and overstated were as follows:

• “billion-dollar market opportunity”
• “Phase 2 trials by the end of 2015”
• “Phase 1 data expected out later this year”

David Hansen made these claims not once but twice:

1 – During oral examination by Honig’s attorney (Webber)
2 – In response to an Interrogatory (Webber)

In both instances, Hansen admitted that his statements were made under oath, subject to
perjury.

Hansen Caught In a Lie

David Hansen was offered the opportunity on multiple instances under examination (Webber) to correct his prior on-the-record statements and responses to the Interrogatory.

Hansen was provided with copies of marketing materials prepared and presented by himself to investors at various conferences. Hansen admitted that he was the author of the materials and that they were factual.

Hansen was then provided with a copy of the O’Rourke claims which lined up, word-for-word, with the statements made by Hansen in the marketing materials.

Hansen was forced to admit that he had lied during his previous examination and in response to the interrogatories. In fact, Hansen admitted that it appeared O’Rourke had copied and pasted Hansen’s exact statements.

Hansen committed perjury.

Hansen’s Admissions

Q: What about the statement about there being a billion-dollar market opportunity? Which you said to at the Roth Conference, but then when he said it in his article, you said was false or misleading or speculative?
A: That stands to be corrected.

Q: So when you swore under penalty of perjury that this statement (Phase 2 trials) was false, you were mistaken?
A: I think I probably missed that.

Q: When you swore under penalty of perjury that the statement there’s a “billion-dollar market opportunity” was false, you’re actually wrong about that is what you’re saying?
A: It appears that that’s the case, yes.

Q: Was it misleading, Mr. Hansen, for Mr. O’Rouke to link his article about Mabvax’s relationship to Juno to Mabvax’s press release about its relationship with Juno?
A: No, not inappropriate.

Q: So when Mabvax said those words in its press release you say its true, but when Mr. O’Rourke puts it in his article, yesterday you testified that was false, right?
A: The highlighted statements on its – standing on its own if very similar to the – to the one that I had before, yeah.

Q: So when you told these false statements – the statements you claim are false, misleading, overstated, speculative, when you told those to the people at the Roth Conference, did you intend to pump up the stock price?
A: No

Hansen’s Pattern of Lies

Hansen also made claims supporting the SEC’s allegations regarding the relationship between Honig and John Ford. Hansen claimed that Honig had hired John Ford to draft and publish a fraudulent article about Mabvax for the purpose of creating another pump-and-dump scheme.

Hansen made similar claims to a Ford article as those he had made to the O’Rourke article. Through discovery is was uncovered that Hansen collaborated with Ford in the authoring of the Mabvax article, even providing notes and corrections to Ford’s early drafts.

Hansen’s claims are completely unsupported and factually incorrect. Any statements he may have made to the SEC whilst under investigation should be questioned.