Market Manipulation. Search

Market manipulation enforcement actions filed in 2018

This library records 245 market manipulation enforcement actions filed in 2018, brought by AMF-FR, ASIC, CFTC, FCA, OSC, SEC.

Counts by year reflect when an action was filed or announced, not when the underlying conduct occurred — those are often years apart. Compare across years with care: a single multi-defendant sweep can dominate a year's count.

Actions
100
Total penalties
$233m
Median penalty
$251k
Largest
$90m
Criminal parallel
32%
Action Agency Filed Technique Penalty Status
SEC v. ADT Inc. (2018) SEC 2018-12-26 $100k settled
SEC v. BioElectronics Corp. IBEX, LLC St. John's, LLC Whelan and others (unregistered distributions, 2018) SEC 2018-12-21 Unregistered Distributions — judgment
SEC v. Joe Lawler (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-12-21 Ponzi Schemes $150k judgment
SEC v. James E. Cohen and Joseph A. Corazzi (Natural Blue Resources) (undisclosed control blocks, 2018) SEC 2018-12-21 Undisclosed Control Blocks — judgment
SEC v. Tod A. Ditommaso, Esq. (unregistered distributions, 2018) SEC 2018-12-21 Unregistered Distributions $1.5k settled
SEC v. Wealthfront Advisers, LLC (tax-loss harvesting disclosures, 2018) SEC 2018-12-21 $250k settled
SEC v. Bryan Lee Addington (2018) SEC 2018-12-20 — judgment
SEC v. Andrew F. Nicoletta (rule 105 offering shorts, 2018) SEC 2018-12-19 Rule 105 Offering Shorts $371k settled
SEC v. Robert S. "Lute" Davis, Jr., et al., Jordan E. Goodman., Alan H. New, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-12-19 Ponzi Schemes $100k settled
CFTC v. Dro Kholamian and Blue Star Trading, LLC (2018) CFTC 2018-12-17 $150k settled
CFTC v. Gaylen Rust (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-12-17 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Peter Cho (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-12-17 Insider Trading $251k settled
SEC v. The Bank of New York Mellon (2018) SEC 2018-12-17 $20.6m settled
AMF France v. Sofiro, P, N, O, Q, R, S, T, A, U, V, W and B (insider trading, 2018) AMF (France) 2018-12-14 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. Lai Guanglin (Alan) (marking the close, 2018) SEC 2018-12-10 Marking The Close , Price Manipulation $400k settled
SEC v. Rajeshwar R. Gannamaneni, Deepthi Gandra, and Linga R. Gannamaneni (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-12-10 Insider Trading $376k settled
SEC v. CoinAlpha Advisors LLC (unregistered distributions, 2018) SEC 2018-12-07 Unregistered Distributions $50k settled
SEC v. David G. Dreslin, Michael Toups and Leslie Toups (2018) SEC 2018-12-03 Reverse Merger Schemes , Undisclosed Control Blocks $345k settled
SEC v. Fifth Street Management, LLC (2018) SEC 2018-12-03 $1.7m settled
SEC v. Eric T. Landis et al. (matched orders, 2018) SEC 2018-11-29 Matched Orders — settled
SEC v. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (paid stock promotion, 2018) SEC 2018-11-29 Paid Stock Promotion $300k settled
SEC v. Khaled Khaled (paid stock promotion, 2018) SEC 2018-11-29 Paid Stock Promotion $100k settled
SEC v. Morrie Tobin et al. (paid stock promotion, 2018) SEC 2018-11-28 Paid Stock Promotion , Undisclosed Control Blocks $461k settled
AMF France v. Emmanuel Morin (insider trading, 2018) AMF (France) 2018-11-26 Insider Trading — settled
OSC v. Christopher Candusso and others (insider trading, 2018) OSC 2018-11-23 Insider Trading — judgment
CFTC v. Defendants Gaylen Dean Rust (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-11-16 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Mark Burnett, Jeffrey Miller, Christian Romandetti, Frank Sarro, Anthony Vassallo, and Elite Stock Research, Inc. (boiler rooms, 2018) SEC 2018-11-15 Boiler Rooms — judgment
SEC v. James V. Mazzo, et al. (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-11-14 Insider Trading $1.5m settled
Court orders penalties and other relief against Westpac for BBSW conduct (ASIC, 2018) ASIC 2018-11-09 Price Manipulation — judgment
SEC v. Arthur Lamar Adams et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-11-09 Ponzi Schemes — settled
SEC v. Joseph Meli, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-11-09 Ponzi Schemes — settled
SEC v. Kevin B. Merrill, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-11-09 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Pyxus International, Inc. (accounting fraud, 2018) SEC 2018-11-09 — settled
AMF France v. Keren Finance, A and B (wash trading, 2018) AMF (France) 2018-11-08 Wash Trading , Price Manipulation — judgment
CFTC v. Jacob Bourne (mismarking, 2018) CFTC 2018-11-08 Mismarking $350k settled
SEC v. Craig H. Carton, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-11-08 Ponzi Schemes — settled
SEC v. James E. Hengen (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-11-08 Insider Trading $72.1k judgment
SEC v. Michael E. Cone, et al (boiler rooms, 2018) SEC 2018-11-08 Boiler Rooms — settled
SEC v. SeeThruEquity, LLC et al. (newsletter scalping, 2018) SEC 2018-11-08 Analyst Manipulation , Newsletter Scalping +1 $520k judgment
SEC v. Slobodan Dragojlovic (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-11-08 Insider Trading $20.1k judgment
SEC v. Citibank, N.A. (2018) SEC 2018-11-07 $13.6m settled
SEC v. Brian Weber and Bebida Beverage Co. (fake press releases, 2018) SEC 2018-10-31 Fake Press Releases $160k judgment
FCA v. Jonathan Mathew Individual (benchmark submission rigging, 2018) FCA 2018-10-30 Benchmark Submission Rigging — judgment
SEC v. Philip Thomas Kueber (undisclosed control blocks, 2018) SEC 2018-10-26 Undisclosed Control Blocks — judgment
OSC v. Keir Reynolds (insider trading, 2018) OSC 2018-10-25 Insider Trading — judgment
AMF France v. C, A, D, E, F, B and G (insider trading, 2018) AMF (France) 2018-10-24 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. John Madsen, Andalusian Resorts and Spas, Inc. and Bernard Fried (fake press releases, 2018) SEC 2018-10-23 Fake Press Releases , Pump And Dump +1 $80k judgment
SEC v. Mark E. Fisher and Joseph F. Capuozzo (pump and dump, 2018) SEC 2018-10-22 Pump And Dump — settled
SEC v. Zachary S. Berkey (churning, 2018) SEC 2018-10-19 Churning — settled
CFTC v. GBI (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-10-18 Ponzi Schemes $2m judgment
SEC v. Richard J. Greenlaw et al. (unregistered distributions, 2018) SEC 2018-10-18 Unregistered Distributions $50k judgment
OSC v. K2 & Associates Investment Management Inc. and others (spoofing, 2018) OSC 2018-10-17 Spoofing — settled
SEC v. Bryan B. Long (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-10-16 Insider Trading $35.8k settled
CFTC v. Kamaldeep Gandhi (spoofing, 2018) CFTC 2018-10-12 Spoofing — judgment
SEC v. Harold L. Altvater (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-10-11 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. Merrill, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-10-11 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Dennis Wayne Hamilton (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-10-10 Insider Trading $584k judgment
SEC v. Robert O. Carr and Katherine M. Hanratty (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-10-05 Insider Trading $251k judgment
SEC v. Todd Elliott Hitt, et al. (2018) SEC 2018-10-05 — settled
CFTC v. Aaron Michael Scott and BMC Worldwide, Inc. (2018) CFTC 2018-10-03 — settled
CFTC v. The Bank of Nova Scotia (spoofing, 2018) CFTC 2018-10-01 Spoofing $800k judgment
CFTC v. unnamed respondents (insider trading, 2018) CFTC 2018-09-28 Insider Trading — filed
CFTC v. EOX Holdings LLC and Andrew Gizienski (insider trading, 2018) CFTC 2018-09-28 Insider Trading $7.5m judgment
SEC v. Bryan R. Ziegenfuse (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-09-28 Insider Trading $64.1k settled
SEC v. COR Clearing, LLC (2018) SEC 2018-09-28 $800k settled
SEC v. Edward J. Kosinski (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-09-28 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. Jehu Hand and Antonio Katz (pump and dump, 2018) SEC 2018-09-28 Pump And Dump , Unregistered Distributions — judgment
SEC v. NL Technology, LLC et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-09-28 Ponzi Schemes $480k judgment
SEC v. Nutra Pharma Corp. et al (unregistered distributions, 2018) SEC 2018-09-28 Unregistered Distributions $136k settled
SEC v. Thomas Carter Ronk (boiler rooms, 2018) SEC 2018-09-28 Boiler Rooms , Paid Stock Promotion $75k settled
SEC v. Unal Patel and Amish Patel (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-09-28 Insider Trading $30.6k settled
CFTC v. Davis Ramsey (price manipulation, 2018) CFTC 2018-09-27 Price Manipulation $325k settled
CFTC v. Davis Ramsey (price manipulation, 2018) CFTC 2018-09-27 Price Manipulation $325k settled
SEC v. James Thomas Bramlette, et al. (2018) SEC 2018-09-27 $40k judgment
SEC v. Thomas Earl Hayden (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-09-27 Insider Trading $298k settled
Former CEO and director of Sirtex Medical Limited charged with insider trading (ASIC, 2018) ASIC 2018-09-26 Insider Trading — judgment
CFTC v. Adam Flavin (price manipulation, 2018) CFTC 2018-09-26 Price Manipulation $125k judgment
CFTC v. Adam Flavin and Peter Grady (price manipulation, 2018) CFTC 2018-09-26 Price Manipulation $375k settled
OSC v. Daniel P. Reeve (ponzi schemes, 2018) OSC 2018-09-26 Ponzi Schemes — judgment
CFTC v. Mizuho Bank (spoofing, 2018) CFTC 2018-09-21 Spoofing $250k judgment
CFTC v. Geneva Trading USA (spoofing, 2018) CFTC 2018-09-20 Spoofing $1.5m judgment
SEC v. CSIR Group, LLC, et al. (paid stock promotion, 2018) SEC 2018-09-20 Paid Stock Promotion $20k judgment
CFTC v. Bank of America (benchmark submission rigging, 2018) CFTC 2018-09-19 Benchmark Submission Rigging , Price Manipulation $30m judgment
CFTC v. Victory Asset, Inc. and Michael D. Franko (spoofing, 2018) CFTC 2018-09-19 Spoofing $2.3m judgment
SEC v. Michael L. LaPenna (2018) SEC 2018-09-19 $22.5k settled
CFTC v. ICAP Capital Markets LLC (benchmark submission rigging, 2018) CFTC 2018-09-18 Benchmark Submission Rigging , Price Manipulation $50m judgment
SEC v. Ernest J. Romer, III (2018) SEC 2018-09-18 — filed
FCA v. Christian Bittar (benchmark submission rigging, 2018) FCA 2018-09-14 Benchmark Submission Rigging — judgment
SEC v. Rong Chen, et al. (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-09-14 Insider Trading $167k settled
SEC v. Gregory Lemelson, Lemelson Capital Management, LLC, and The Amvona Fund (short and distort, 2018) SEC 2018-09-13 Short And Distort $160k judgment
SEC v. Barry C. Honig, et al. (pump and dump, 2018) SEC 2018-09-07 Pump And Dump — settled
SEC v. In Ovations Holdings, Inc. and Mark Goldberg (fake press releases, 2018) SEC 2018-09-06 Fake Press Releases $150k judgment
SEC v. Jeffrey Goldman and Christopher Eikenberry (2018) SEC 2018-09-05 — settled
SEC v. Amer Deeba (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-08-30 Insider Trading $581k settled
SEC v. Kendricks, et al. (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-08-30 Insider Trading $15k settled
CFTC v. BNP Paribas (benchmark submission rigging, 2018) CFTC 2018-08-29 Benchmark Submission Rigging , Price Manipulation $90m judgment
SEC v. Delaney Equity Group LLC, David C. Delaney and Ian C. Kass (reverse merger schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-08-29 Reverse Merger Schemes , Shell Factories +1 — settled
SEC v. Fishoff, et al. (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-08-23 Insider Trading — filed
SEC v. Gary S. Williky (insider trading, price manipulation, 2018) SEC 2018-08-23 Insider Trading , Price Manipulation $1.7m judgment
SEC v. Barry M. Kornfeld, et al., Lynette M. Robbins and Knowles Systems, Inc. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-08-22 Ponzi Schemes $100k settled