SEC v. Stephen Durland (pump and dump, 2024)

Settled

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In August 2024 the Securities and Exchange Commission filed and settled a complaint in the Northern District of Texas against former New York CPA Stephen Durland, alleging he prepared misleading financial statements for three companies in the $112 million Verges pump-and-dump while concealing his own disciplinary history. The proposed judgment, subject to court approval, imposes a penny stock bar, $83,000 in disgorgement, $16,196 in interest and a $230,464 penalty.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$230k

Disgorgement

$83k

Prejudgment interest

$16.2k

Total relief

$330k

Alleged gain

—

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

the Securities and Exchange Commission announced this matter on August 13, 2024 as release LR-26075. The respondents named are Stephen Durland (1 individual, 0 entities). The action was brought in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas.

This library tags the matter as pump and dump, based on the conduct the regulator describes. Each tag links to a page explaining how that technique works, what statute it engages, and what penalties comparable actions have attracted. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

The conduct is recorded against equities, with OTC identified in the release.

The relief recorded in our data is a civil penalty of $230,464, disgorgement of $83,000, prejudgment interest of $16,196, under a proposed consent judgment awaiting court approval. Penalty and disgorgement are distinct: disgorgement returns the gain, while the penalty is punitive. We store them separately so that aggregate figures across the library are not double-counted.

Non-monetary relief recorded: penny stock bar.

For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the release.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with one technique in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

• Pump and dump — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2024-08-13 Litigation release published

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

• SEC litigation release

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Related actions

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.