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
$593m
Median penalty
$150k
Largest
$475m
Criminal parallel
38%
Action Agency Filed Technique Penalty Status
SEC v. James T. Lentz (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-08-22 Insider Trading $9.1k settled
Former managing director of mining company found guilty of insider trading (ASIC, 2018) ASIC 2018-08-21 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. A. Catlin Cade, IV (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-08-21 Insider Trading $8.7k settled
SEC v. Ismail Lila (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-08-21 Insider Trading $28.6k settled
SEC v. Lubin and David (unregistered distributions, 2018) SEC 2018-08-21 Unregistered Distributions — judgment
SEC v. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Citigroup Inc. (mismarking, 2018) SEC 2018-08-16 Mismarking $5.8m settled
SEC v. Honglan Wang (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-08-16 Insider Trading $67k settled
SEC v. Tomahawk Exploration LLC and David Thompson Laurance (2018) SEC 2018-08-14 $30k settled
SEC v. Alexander Charles White and Paul Douglas Vandivier (unregistered distributions, 2018) SEC 2018-08-13 Unregistered Distributions — filed
SEC v. Chad Anthony Lewis (unregistered distributions, 2018) SEC 2018-08-13 Unregistered Distributions — settled
SEC v. Christopher Collins, et al., Lauren Zarksy, Dorothy Zarsky (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-08-10 Insider Trading $42k settled
SEC v. John C. Maccoll (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-08-09 Ponzi Schemes — settled
SEC v. Arthur Lamar Adams and Madison Timber Properties, LLC (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-08-08 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Salvadore D. Palermo (sham inventory sales, 2018) SEC 2018-08-08 — judgment
SEC v. Aaron R. Smith (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-08-07 Insider Trading $40.6k settled
SEC v. Murakami, et al. (2018) SEC 2018-08-06 — judgment
SEC v. Fei Yan, et al. (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-08-03 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. Lozuk (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-08-01 Insider Trading $26.6k settled
SEC v. Madan (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-08-01 Insider Trading $14k settled
SEC v. Fred Tinker (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-07-31 Insider Trading $89.2k settled
SEC v. Howard M. Appel (matched orders, 2018) SEC 2018-07-30 Matched Orders — settled
SEC v. Robert Gadimian (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-07-26 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. Rudden, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-07-26 Ponzi Schemes — settled
FCA v. Edward John Booth (2018) FCA 2018-07-25 — settled
SEC v. Richard T. Cunniffe (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-07-25 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. Matthew Brunstrum and Susan Brunstrum (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-07-24 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. Yao Li (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-07-24 Insider Trading $196k settled
Former executive charged with insider trading (ASIC, 2018) ASIC 2018-07-23 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. Mizuho Securities USA LLC (2018) SEC 2018-07-23 $1.3m settled
SEC v. Sycamore Lane Partners LLC (naked short selling debate, 2018) SEC 2018-07-23 Naked Short Selling Debate $25k settled
SEC v. Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas (2018) SEC 2018-07-20 $22.2m settled
AMF France v. Mecelec Composites and A (false or misleading information, 2018) AMF (France) 2018-07-18 Misleading Issuer Disclosure — judgment
SEC v. Mark E. Burns, Robert W. Murray (price manipulation, 2018) SEC 2018-07-17 EDGAR Filing Fraud , Price Manipulation +1 — settled
AMF France v. Soufflet Négoce (marking the close, 2018) AMF (France) 2018-07-16 Marking The Close — judgment
SEC v. Gannon Giguiere and others (matched orders, 2018) SEC 2018-07-16 Matched Orders , Pump And Dump $880k settled
CFTC v. Lansing Trade Group, LLC (price manipulation, 2018) CFTC 2018-07-12 Price Manipulation $3.4m settled
SEC v. Joseph Mangiapane, Jr. (Dynkowski penny stock manipulation, 2018) SEC 2018-07-12 Pump And Dump $26k judgment
SEC v. Ryan Gilbertson, et al. (undisclosed control blocks, 2018) SEC 2018-07-12 Undisclosed Control Blocks — judgment
ASIC v. CBA (price manipulation, 2018) ASIC 2018-07-10 Price Manipulation — judgment
SEC v. Dubovoy, et al. (hack to trade, 2018) SEC 2018-07-10 Hack To Trade — settled
SEC v. Gene Shen (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-07-10 Insider Trading $43.3k settled
SEC v. Matthew C. Woodard (2018) SEC 2018-07-10 — judgment
AMF France v. Cibox Inter@ctive, AI Investment, A and B (false or misleading information, 2018) AMF (France) 2018-07-05 Misleading Issuer Disclosure , Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. Molina (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-07-05 Insider Trading $39.2k judgment
SEC v. Edward Lee Moody Jr., et. al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-07-03 Ponzi Schemes — settled
SEC v. Sudhakar Reddy Bonthu (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-07-02 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. Alexander Capital, L.P. (churning, 2018) SEC 2018-06-29 Churning $194k settled
SEC v. Bayes Capital, LLC (naked short selling debate, 2018) SEC 2018-06-28 Naked Short Selling Debate $300k settled
SEC v. James VanBlaricum, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-06-26 Ponzi Schemes — settled
SEC v. Richard Weed et al. (reverse merger schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-06-26 Reverse Merger Schemes $150k judgment
SEC v. James E. Hocker (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-06-21 Ponzi Schemes — judgment
SEC v. Joseph A. Fiore, Berkshire Capital Management Company, Inc., and Eat at Joe's, Ltd. (n/k/a SPYR, Inc.) (newsletter scalping, 2018) SEC 2018-06-20 Newsletter Scalping $1.5m settled
SEC v. Santillo, Parris, LaRocco, Piccarreto and Brenner (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-06-19 Ponzi Schemes — settled
CFTC v. JPMorgan Chase Bank (benchmark submission rigging, 2018) CFTC 2018-06-18 Benchmark Submission Rigging , Price Manipulation $65m judgment
OSC v. Peter Volk (2018) OSC 2018-06-11 — settled
SEC v. Robert M. Morano (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-06-11 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. Jehu Hand, et al. (pump and dump, 2018) SEC 2018-06-06 Pump And Dump — unknown
SEC v. Ralph T. Iannelli and Essex Capital Corporation (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-06-06 Ponzi Schemes $640k settled
CFTC v. Société Générale S.A. (benchmark submission rigging, 2018) CFTC 2018-06-04 Benchmark Submission Rigging , Price Manipulation $475m judgment
SEC v. Kon and Alexander (paid stock promotion, 2018) SEC 2018-05-29 Paid Stock Promotion $20k settled
SEC v. Todd David Alpert (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-05-18 Insider Trading $43.9k judgment
SEC v. Manhattan Transfer Registrar Company and John C. Ahearn (reverse merger schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-05-17 Reverse Merger Schemes , Undisclosed Control Blocks $50k settled
SEC v. Chardan Capital Markets, LLC (2018) SEC 2018-05-16 $1m settled
SEC v. Jerard Basmagy (2018) SEC 2018-05-16 $15k settled
AMF France v. Pascal Chevalier (insider trading, 2018) AMF (France) 2018-05-09 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. Keith Houlihan (boiler rooms, 2018) SEC 2018-05-09 Boiler Rooms — judgment
CFTC v. Alcibiades Cifuentes (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-05-08 Ponzi Schemes $1.8m judgment
SEC v. Visium Asset Management, LP (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-05-08 Insider Trading , Mismarking $4.8m settled
AMF France v. X and D (false or misleading information, 2018) AMF (France) 2018-05-07 False Rumors — judgment
SEC v. Bovorn Rungruangnavarat (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-05-07 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. David A. Zimliki and Russel P. Schiefer (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-05-04 Insider Trading $15.2k settled
OSC v. Harald Seemann, Jens Brandt and Karl Pawlowicz (spoofing, 2018) OSC 2018-05-03 Spoofing — unknown
AMF France v. A (layering, 2018) AMF (France) 2018-05-02 Layering — judgment
SEC v. Eddy U. Marin and Shane R. Spierdowis (pump and dump, 2018) SEC 2018-05-02 Pump And Dump , Unregistered Distributions — settled
SEC v. Small Business Capital Corp. and Mark Feathers (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-05-02 Ponzi Schemes $10k judgment
CFTC v. Charles H. McAllister and BullionDirect (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-04-30 Ponzi Schemes — settled
CFTC v. Glencore Agriculture B.V. and Glencore Ltd. (wash trading, 2018) CFTC 2018-04-30 Wash Trading $2m judgment
SEC v. Christopher R. Esposito, et al. (undisclosed control blocks, 2018) SEC 2018-04-30 Undisclosed Control Blocks , Unregistered Distributions $168k judgment
SEC v. Diane J. Harrison, Michael J. Daniels and Catherine A. Bradaick-Zolla (shell factories, 2018) SEC 2018-04-30 Shell Factories , Undisclosed Control Blocks — judgment
SEC v. William T. Walters, et al. (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-04-30 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. AF Ocean Investment Management Company (reverse merger schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-04-25 Reverse Merger Schemes , Undisclosed Control Blocks — settled
SEC v. Andy Z. Fan (fake press releases, 2018) SEC 2018-04-25 Fake Press Releases , Matched Orders +1 $140k settled
SEC v. ChinAmerica Andy Movie Entertainment Media Company (reverse merger schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-04-25 Reverse Merger Schemes , Undisclosed Control Blocks — settled
OSC v. Nicolas Blitterswyk (2018) OSC 2018-04-24 — settled
SEC v. Scott Newsholme (2018) SEC 2018-04-23 — judgment
CFTC v. Kantor et al. (rigged binary options execution, 2019) CFTC 2018-04-16 Rigged Binary Options Execution $2.8m judgment
SEC v. Douglas Nelson (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-04-16 Insider Trading $15.1k settled
AMF France v. Delta Drone, A, B, C and D (insider trading, 2018) AMF (France) 2018-04-13 Insider Trading — judgment
CFTC v. Kane Capital Investment Group and Amrit Chahal (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-04-12 Ponzi Schemes — settled
SEC v. Amrit J. S. Chahal (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-04-12 Ponzi Schemes — judgment
SEC v. Wellness Center USA, Inc. (fake press releases, 2018) SEC 2018-04-12 Fake Press Releases — settled
SEC v. William C. Gennity and Rocco Roveccio (churning, 2018) SEC 2018-04-11 Churning $320k settled
South Australian day trader sentenced for market manipulation (ASIC, 2018) ASIC 2018-04-10 Price Manipulation — judgment
CFTC v. Anuj C. Singhal (spoofing, 2018) CFTC 2018-04-09 Spoofing $150k judgment
SEC v. The Lifepay Group, Clifton E. Stanley and Michael E. Watts (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-04-06 Ponzi Schemes — settled
SEC v. Peter H. Pocklington, The Eye Machine LLC and others (boiler rooms, 2018) SEC 2018-04-05 Boiler Rooms , Unregistered Distributions $2.4m settled
SEC v. Joseph Meli and Craig H. Carton (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-04-05 Ponzi Schemes — settled
SEC v. Saverio J. Barbera (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-04-05 Insider Trading $290k settled
SEC v. Christopher James Lollar (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-04-04 Insider Trading $214k judgment
SEC v. Michael Scronic (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-04-04 Ponzi Schemes — settled