NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — After more than five years of criminal proceedings, Orange County prosecutors dismissed all 73 felony fraud charges filed against Newport Beach entrepreneur and technology inventor Robert A. Lotter, resolving the case with a plea to a single misdemeanor involving a California securities filing requirement.
The resolution closes a case that began in November 2020 with Lotter’s arrest on $4 million bail and allegations that he defrauded investors through companies he founded to develop early smartphone and cloud-based technologies. According to Lotter, the misdemeanor involved a California “Blue Sky” securities registration filing and did not involve fraud or the sale of an unlawful investment.
Lotter has maintained throughout the case that his investment offerings were either federally registered or exempt under federal securities laws and that the state prosecution improperly characterized the investments as fraudulent…