Market Manipulation. Search

Market manipulation case library

This library records 2,117 market manipulation enforcement actions brought by financial regulators, each with the agency, the date, the alleged technique, the monetary relief ordered and a link to the regulator's own filing. The whole dataset is downloadable as JSON.

Actions
2,117
Total penalties
$15.4bn
Median penalty
$258k
Agencies
2
Techniques
36

Browse by facet

Every facet below is a real page with its own URL, so it works without JavaScript and can be linked, bookmarked and cited.

By technique

Insider trading 608 Ponzi schemes 532 Paid stock promotion 219 Unregistered distributions 136 Pump and dump 121 Undisclosed control blocks 119 Spoofing 114 Wash trading 90 Price manipulation 72 Boiler rooms 71 Reverse merger schemes 66 The naked short selling debate 41 Benchmark submission rigging 32 Matched orders 24 Churning 19 Free riding and parking 18 Fake press releases 16 Layering 15 Newsletter scalping 15 Marking the close 10 Cash versus derivatives schemes 10 Front running 9 Shell factories 8 Chat group pumps 6 False rumours 5 Custodianship shell hijacking 5 Settlement price manipulation 4 Exchange wash trading 3 Banging the close 3 FX fixing 3 Engineered short squeeze 2 Marking the open 1 Rug pulls 1 Insider listing trading 1 Oracle manipulation 1 Float locking 1

By agency

CFTC 349 SEC 1768

By year filed

2026 85 2025 103 2024 182 2023 202 2022 174 2021 142 2020 178 2019 181 2018 221 2017 210 2016 179 2015 205 2014 27 2013 28

Ranked lists: largest penalties · largest spoofing penalties · longest sentences · most-charged individuals · biggest crypto cases · most active courts

All actions, newest first

Action Agency Filed Technique Penalty Status
SEC v. Brent David Willis (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-10-18 Insider Trading — unknown
SEC v. Kevin B. Merrill, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-10-18 Ponzi Schemes — judgment
CFTC v. Walsh (ponzi schemes, 2022) CFTC 2022-10-17 Ponzi Schemes — judgment
SEC v. National Realty Investment Advisors LLC, Rey E. Grabato II, Daniel Coley O'Brien, Thomas Nicholas Salzano and others (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-10-14 Ponzi Schemes — filed
CFTC v. Digital Asset Derivatives Platform and Miami Resident (price manipulation, 2022) CFTC 2022-10-03 Price Manipulation — filed
SEC v. Harpreet Saini and John Lester Mandac Natividad (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-10-03 Insider Trading — filed
SEC v. Kimberly Kardashian (paid stock promotion, 2022) SEC 2022-10-03 Paid Stock Promotion — settled
SEC v. Mauricio Chavez, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-10-03 Ponzi Schemes — unknown
SEC v. Arbitrade Ltd., et al. (pump and dump, 2022) SEC 2022-09-30 Pump And Dump — unknown
SEC v. Ari Lauer (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-09-30 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Carl V. Dawson (undisclosed control blocks, 2022) SEC 2022-09-30 Undisclosed Control Blocks — settled
SEC v. Cemtrex, Inc. and Saagar Govil (Corrected) (paid stock promotion, 2022) SEC 2022-09-30 Paid Stock Promotion — settled
SEC v. Darrell Green (undisclosed control blocks, 2022) SEC 2022-09-30 Undisclosed Control Blocks — settled
SEC v. Jonathan William Mikula, et al. (paid stock promotion, 2022) SEC 2022-09-30 Paid Stock Promotion $777k settled
SEC v. Lisa Sanford (paid stock promotion, 2022) SEC 2022-09-30 Paid Stock Promotion — settled
SEC v. Charles Parrino (false rumors, 2022) SEC 2022-09-28 False Rumors — settled
SEC v. Matthew Nicosia, William Reninger, Fabrizio Di Carlo, and Ronald Touchard (boiler rooms, 2022) SEC 2022-09-28 Boiler Rooms , Pump And Dump — filed
SEC v. Christian J. Gonzalez (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-09-27 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. James T. Patten, et al. (reverse merger schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-09-27 Reverse Merger Schemes — filed
SEC v. Kendricks, et al., Mark Wayne Ramsey (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-09-27 Insider Trading — judgment
CFTC v. California Trader and Prop Firm (spoofing, 2022) CFTC 2022-09-26 Spoofing $150k judgment
SEC v. James Patrick O'connell (undisclosed control blocks, 2022) SEC 2022-09-26 Undisclosed Control Blocks — settled
SEC v. Judith Paris-Pinder (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-09-26 Ponzi Schemes — judgment
SEC v. Sang N. Phan and Rich N. Phan (free riding and parking, 2022) SEC 2022-09-26 Free Riding And Parking — filed
CFTC v. Two Chinese Companies (wash trading, 2022) CFTC 2022-09-23 Wash Trading $720k judgment
SEC v. Brian Lam, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-09-23 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Compass Minerals International, Inc. (paid stock promotion, 2022) SEC 2022-09-23 Paid Stock Promotion — settled
SEC v. Friedman LLP (reverse merger schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-09-23 Reverse Merger Schemes — dismissed
SEC v. James Arthur McDonald, Jr. and Hercules Investments, LLC (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-09-22 Ponzi Schemes — unknown
SEC v. Michael Weiss (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-09-22 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. Sheng Fu and Ming Xu (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-09-21 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. John P. Mendes, et al. (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-09-20 Insider Trading $51.6k settled
SEC v. Sparkster, Ltd. and Sajjad Daya (unregistered distributions, 2022) SEC 2022-09-19 Unregistered Distributions $500k settled
SEC v. Waddell & Reed, LLC (churning, 2022) SEC 2022-09-19 Churning — settled
SEC v. Nutra Pharma Corp. et al (unregistered distributions, 2022) SEC 2022-09-16 Unregistered Distributions — unknown
SEC v. Gabriel Edelman, Creative Advancement LLC and Edelman Blockchain Advisors LLC (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-09-15 Ponzi Schemes — unknown
CFTC v. Tae Hung Kang (ponzi schemes, 2022) CFTC 2022-09-08 Ponzi Schemes $800k judgment
SEC v. NPA Asset Management, LLC (churning, 2022) SEC 2022-09-08 Churning — settled
SEC v. Todd Christopher Doucette (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-09-07 Insider Trading — settled
CFTC v. Former Trader (benchmark submission rigging, 2022) CFTC 2022-09-06 Benchmark Submission Rigging $250k judgment
CFTC v. Swap Dealer (benchmark submission rigging, 2022) CFTC 2022-09-06 Benchmark Submission Rigging $2.8m judgment
CFTC v. unnamed respondents (ponzi schemes, 2022) CFTC 2022-09-02 Ponzi Schemes $200k judgment
SEC v. Pavel Ruiz (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-08-30 Ponzi Schemes — settled
SEC v. Harmel S. Rayat, RenovaCare, Inc., Jatinder Bhogal, Jeetenderjit Singh Sidhu, and Sharon Fleming (newsletter scalping, 2022) SEC 2022-08-29 Newsletter Scalping — unknown
SEC v. Heckele and Mark W., Esq. (unregistered distributions, 2022) SEC 2022-08-29 Unregistered Distributions — judgment
SEC v. Taronis Technologies, Inc., et al. (paid stock promotion, 2022) SEC 2022-08-25 Paid Stock Promotion $150k settled
CFTC v. Chicago Trader (spoofing, 2022) CFTC 2022-08-24 Spoofing $100k judgment
SEC v. Nicolas Arkells (unregistered distributions, 2022) SEC 2022-08-24 Unregistered Distributions — filed
SEC v. The Bancorp, Inc. (benchmark submission rigging, 2022) SEC 2022-08-24 Benchmark Submission Rigging — settled
SEC v. Lee Simmons (price manipulation, 2022) SEC 2022-08-19 Price Manipulation — filed
SEC v. Nicholas Daniel (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-08-17 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. Sergei Polevikov, et al. (front running, 2022) SEC 2022-08-17 Front Running — dismissed
SEC v. Ann M. Dishinger, Jerrold I. Palmer, and Lawrence M. Palmer (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-08-16 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. IMC Chicago, LLC (naked short selling debate, 2022) SEC 2022-08-12 Naked Short Selling Debate — settled
SEC v. Maccio and Michelle (undisclosed control blocks, 2022) SEC 2022-08-09 Undisclosed Control Blocks — unknown
CFTC v. Nevada Metals Trader (spoofing, 2022) CFTC 2022-08-05 Spoofing — filed
SEC v. Deccan Value Investors LP and Vinit Bodas (undisclosed control blocks, 2022) SEC 2022-08-03 Undisclosed Control Blocks — settled
SEC v. Vladimir Okhotnikov et al. (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-08-01 Ponzi Schemes — settled
SEC v. Mark Klein, et al. (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-07-28 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. Alexandra Robert, Chalala Academy LLC (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-07-27 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Amit Bhardwaj, et al. (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-07-26 Insider Trading — unknown
SEC v. Seth Markin and Brandon Wong (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-07-26 Insider Trading — unknown
SEC v. Todd Lahr and Thomas Megas (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-07-26 Ponzi Schemes — judgment
SEC v. Brijesh Goel and Akshay Niranjan (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-07-25 Insider Trading — filed
SEC v. Stephen E. Buyer, et al. (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-07-25 Insider Trading — unknown
SEC v. Apostolos Trovias (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-07-21 Insider Trading — judgment
CFTC v. Jimmy Gale Watson (paid stock promotion, 2022) CFTC 2022-07-18 Paid Stock Promotion , Pump And Dump $290k judgment
SEC v. Bruce Schoengood, Medifirst Solutions, Inc., and Joshua Tyrell (paid stock promotion, 2022) SEC 2022-07-18 Paid Stock Promotion — judgment
SEC v. John David McAfee and Jimmy Gale Watson, Jr. (newsletter scalping, 2022) SEC 2022-07-15 Newsletter Scalping , Paid Stock Promotion — judgment
SEC v. Steven J. Sheinfeld, CPA (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-07-08 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. Doron A. Tavlin, Afshin Farahan, and David J. Gantman (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-07-07 Insider Trading — unknown
SEC v. George W. Haywood (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-07-07 Insider Trading — filed
SEC v. Hugh Lee Sweeney (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-07-07 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. John W. Pauciulo, Esq. (undisclosed control blocks, 2022) SEC 2022-07-07 Undisclosed Control Blocks $490k settled
SEC v. Matthew Wade Beasley, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-07-01 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Prosperity Consultants, LLC (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-07-01 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Daniel J. Moscatiello (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-06-29 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. Eric D. Lachow (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-06-24 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Steven J. Sheinfeld (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-06-21 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. Lek Securities Corporation, et. al. (layering, 2022) SEC 2022-06-17 Layering , Spoofing — appealed
SEC v. David Roda and Andrew Larkin (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-06-15 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. Michael Mooney, Britt Wright, and Penny Flippen (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-06-14 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Lijuan "Sandra" Hao, CPA (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-06-09 Insider Trading $47.9k settled
SEC v. Patrick Churchville, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-06-09 Ponzi Schemes $225k judgment
SEC v. Puneet Dikshit (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-06-09 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. Jae Cheol Oh (reverse merger schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-06-08 Reverse Merger Schemes — settled
SEC v. Stubos, et al. (paid stock promotion, 2022) SEC 2022-06-08 Paid Stock Promotion — filed
SEC v. Mohammed Pithapurwala, Ammar Kutiyanawalla, and Alifiya Kutiyanawalla (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-06-01 Insider Trading $523k judgment
SEC v. Hugues Pierre Joublin (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-05-27 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. Andrew M, Middlebrooks, et al (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-05-25 Ponzi Schemes — filed
CFTC v. Glencore (price manipulation, 2022) CFTC 2022-05-24 Price Manipulation $1.2bn judgment
SEC v. Frank B. Glassner (insider trading, 2022) SEC 2022-05-24 Insider Trading — filed
CFTC v. Oregon and others (ponzi schemes, 2022) CFTC 2022-05-19 Ponzi Schemes — unknown
SEC v. Sohrab (Sam") Sharma (paid stock promotion, 2022) SEC 2022-05-19 Paid Stock Promotion — judgment
SEC v. Wynn Charlebois et al. (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-05-19 Ponzi Schemes — unknown
SEC v. Jillian Sidoti (undisclosed control blocks, 2022) SEC 2022-05-17 Undisclosed Control Blocks $22k judgment
CFTC v. Long Island Resident and His Firm (ponzi schemes, 2022) CFTC 2022-05-13 Ponzi Schemes — unknown
SEC v. Brenda Smith, et al. (paid stock promotion, 2022) SEC 2022-05-11 Paid Stock Promotion — filed
CFTC v. California Man and His Companies (ponzi schemes, 2022) CFTC 2022-05-10 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Manuel A. Romero (ponzi schemes, 2022) SEC 2022-05-10 Ponzi Schemes — judgment