SEC v. William A. Justice, Keith A. Rosenbaum, Brian D. Shibley, and Randell R. Torno (pump and dump, 2025)

Judgment entered

✓ Checked against the primary document on October 2, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, with sampled and disputed records read a second time. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.

Report an error in this record (sec-william-a-justice-keith-a-rosenbaum-brian-d-shibley-pump-and-dump-2025) by email

In July 2025 the Securities and Exchange Commission charged three former penny-stock company CEOs, William Justice, Brian Shibley and Randell Torno, and disbarred attorney Keith Rosenbaum for roles in the alleged $112 million Verges pump-and-dump. The three CEOs consented to judgments with penny stock and officer-and-director bars, $22,398 in disgorgement and $2,012 in interest against Torno, and $35,000 penalties each for Torno and Shibley; Rosenbaum's remedies are to be set later.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$70k

Disgorgement

$22.4k

Prejudgment interest

$2k

Total relief

$94.4k

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 July 10, 2025 as release LR-26344. The respondents named are William A. Justice, Keith A. Rosenbaum, Brian D. Shibley and Randell R. Torno (4 individuals, 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.

The relief recorded in our data is civil penalties of $70,000 ($35,000 each for Torno and Shibley), disgorgement of $22,398, prejudgment interest of $2,012, under consent judgments in the Northern District of Texas. 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: officer-and-director bar, 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. 2025-07-10 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
• Final Judgment - Brian Shibley
• Judgment - Keith Rosenbaum
• Final Judgment - Randell Torno
• Final Judgment - William Justice

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.