Market Manipulation. Search

Market manipulation enforcement actions filed in 2019

This library records 202 market manipulation enforcement actions filed in 2019, brought by AMF-FR, ASIC, CFTC, 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
$459m
Median penalty
$850k
Largest
$339m
Criminal parallel
37%
Action Agency Filed Technique Penalty Status
SEC v. Amir Waldman, et al. (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-12-23 Insider Trading — judgment
CFTC v. Christophe Rivoire (price manipulation, 2019) CFTC 2019-12-20 Price Manipulation — filed
SEC v. Retirement Surety LLC Crescendo Financial LLC Rose and others (unregistered distributions, 2019) SEC 2019-12-20 Unregistered Distributions $11.3k appealed
SEC v. S. Paul Kelley, et al. (reverse merger schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-12-20 Reverse Merger Schemes , Unregistered Distributions — settled
SEC v. Songjiang Wang (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-12-20 Insider Trading $50k settled
SEC v. Janardhan Nellore et al. (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-12-18 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. Robert A. Karmann (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-12-18 Ponzi Schemes — settled
SEC v. Sam A. Antar (2019) SEC 2019-12-18 — settled
SEC v. John Special and John Kenneth Davidson (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-12-12 Insider Trading $1.6m settled
AMF France v. Bloomberg LP (false information from a fake press release, 2019) AMF (France) 2019-12-11 Fake Press Releases — judgment
CFTC v. New Mexico Resident (ponzi schemes, 2019) CFTC 2019-12-10 Ponzi Schemes $5.2m settled
SEC v. Christopher Collins, et al. (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-12-10 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. Jeffrey O. Friedland, Global Corporate Strategies LLC., and Intiva Pharma, LLC (paid stock promotion, 2019) SEC 2019-12-09 Paid Stock Promotion $2m judgment
SEC v. Lester Burroughs (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-12-05 Ponzi Schemes — settled
AMF France v. Morgan Stanley & Co International Plc (price manipulation, 2019) AMF (France) 2019-12-04 Price Manipulation — judgment
SEC v. Brett Pittsenbargar, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-11-25 Ponzi Schemes $100k settled
SEC v. Kevin B. Merrill, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-11-25 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. David F. Bandimere (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-11-22 Ponzi Schemes , Unregistered Distributions $130k settled
SEC v. Richard Lee, et al. (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-11-21 Insider Trading $130k judgment
SEC v. Ruless Pierre a/k/a Rules Pierre (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-11-21 Ponzi Schemes — unknown
SEC v. Burkholz, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-11-20 Ponzi Schemes $1.8m judgment
AMF France v. Guy Degrenne (false or misleading information, 2019) AMF (France) 2019-11-14 Misleading Issuer Disclosure — settled
AMF France v. Patrick du Pré de Saint Maur (insider trading, 2019) AMF (France) 2019-11-13 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. Sebastian Pinto-Thomaz (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-11-12 Insider Trading — judgment
CFTC v. Mitsubishi Corporation RtM Japan Ltd. (spoofing, 2019) CFTC 2019-11-07 Spoofing $500k judgment
CFTC v. Tower Research Capital LLC (spoofing, 2019) CFTC 2019-11-07 Spoofing $24.4m judgment
SEC v. David N. Osegueda, et al. (pump and dump, 2019) SEC 2019-11-06 Pump And Dump $835k judgment
SEC v. Richard Eden, Christopher Neumann and Dale Pearlman (matched orders, 2019) SEC 2019-11-04 Matched Orders $225k settled
SEC v. Bovorn Rungruangnavarat (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-10-31 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. DFRF Enterprises LLC, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-10-29 Ponzi Schemes $1m judgment
SEC v. Benjamin Taylor, Darina Windsor and Joseph Abdul Noor El-Khouri (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-10-22 Insider Trading $4.8m judgment
SEC v. Bryan Cohen and George Nikas (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-10-22 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. Joseph Bayliss and Ronald Roach (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-10-22 Ponzi Schemes — settled
SEC v. Michael J. Starkweather and Andiamo Corporation, William White (matched orders, 2019) SEC 2019-10-17 Matched Orders , Fake Press Releases $150k settled
CFTC v. Nevada Company and its Owner (ponzi schemes, 2019) CFTC 2019-10-16 Ponzi Schemes $1.5m judgment
CFTC v. unnamed respondents (ponzi schemes, 2019) CFTC 2019-10-15 Ponzi Schemes $12.6m judgment
SEC v. Eric J. "EJ" Dalius et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-10-15 Ponzi Schemes $3.1m settled
OSC v. Aly Babu Husein Mawji (pump and dump, 2019) OSC 2019-10-11 Pump And Dump — judgment
SEC v. Anton Senderov, et al. (boiler rooms, 2019) SEC 2019-10-10 Boiler Rooms $700k settled
SEC v. Daniel Rivas, et al. (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-10-10 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. Lek Securities Corporation and Samuel Lek (layering, 2019) SEC 2019-10-10 Layering $1.4m judgment
CFTC actions against affiliate marketers David Sechovich and Peter Szatmari (binary options fraud, 2019) CFTC 2019-10-07 — judgment
CFTC v. Belvedere Trading LLC (spoofing, 2019) CFTC 2019-10-01 Spoofing $1.1m judgment
CFTC v. Classic Energy LLC and Mathew D. Webb (front running, 2019) CFTC 2019-10-01 Front Running $1.5m settled
CFTC v. Morgan Stanley Capital Group Inc. (spoofing, 2019) CFTC 2019-10-01 Spoofing $1.5m judgment
CFTC v. RBC Capital Markets (wash trading, 2019) CFTC 2019-10-01 Wash Trading $5m judgment
CFTC v. Mitsubishi International Corporation (spoofing, 2019) CFTC 2019-10-01 Spoofing $400k judgment
CFTC v. Hard Eight Futures, LLC and Igor Chernomzav (spoofing, 2019) CFTC 2019-09-30 Price Manipulation , Spoofing $2.5m judgment
SEC v. Block.One (unregistered distributions, 2019) SEC 2019-09-30 Unregistered Distributions $24m settled
SEC v. Gil Beserglik, et al. (boiler rooms, 2019) SEC 2019-09-30 Boiler Rooms $865k settled
SEC v. James T. Booth (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-09-30 Ponzi Schemes — settled
SEC v. iQuantifi, Inc. and Thomas F. White (unregistered distributions, 2019) SEC 2019-09-27 Unregistered Distributions $25k settled
OSC v. Solar Income Fund Inc. and others (2019) OSC 2019-09-26 — judgment
SEC v. Sean Stewart, et al. (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-09-26 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. Andres Fernandez and Edison Denizard (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-09-25 Ponzi Schemes — judgment
SEC v. Chip Hackley (matched orders, 2019) SEC 2019-09-25 Matched Orders , Undisclosed Control Blocks — settled
SEC v. George Matin (matched orders, 2019) SEC 2019-09-25 Matched Orders , Price Manipulation — settled
SEC v. Harold Minsky (matched orders, 2019) SEC 2019-09-25 Matched Orders , Price Manipulation — settled
SEC v. James Alex Irvin (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-09-25 Insider Trading $252k settled
SEC v. William M. Apostelos, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-09-25 Ponzi Schemes , Unregistered Distributions — judgment
SEC v. James Wallace Nall, III, et al. (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-09-24 Insider Trading $437k settled
SEC v. Benjamin Conde, with Essex Global Investment Corp. and Facultas Capital Management, Inc. as relief defendants (boiler rooms, 2019) SEC 2019-09-23 Boiler Rooms — filed
CFTC v. Trader and his Company (ponzi schemes, 2019) CFTC 2019-09-19 Ponzi Schemes — settled
SEC v. Brian Robert Sodi, et al. (newsletter scalping, 2019) SEC 2019-09-19 Newsletter Scalping , Paid Stock Promotion +1 — settled
Corporate finance director charged with conspiring to manipulate market (ASIC, 2019) ASIC 2019-09-18 Price Manipulation — judgment
SEC v. Mediatrix Capital Inc., et al. (2019) SEC 2019-09-18 — filed
CFTC v. Jared J. Davis (rigged binary options execution, 2019) CFTC 2019-09-17 Rigged Binary Options Execution — settled
CFTC v. Jared J. Davis (rigged binary options execution, 2023) CFTC 2019-09-17 Rigged Binary Options Execution — settled
CFTC v. Christian Trunz (spoofing, 2019) CFTC 2019-09-16 Spoofing — judgment
CFTC v. John Lawrence and Heraeus Metals New York LLC (spoofing, 2019) CFTC 2019-09-16 Spoofing $1m judgment
CFTC v. Michael Nowak and Gregg Smith (spoofing, 2019) CFTC 2019-09-16 Price Manipulation , Spoofing $350k settled
SEC v. Vandham Securities Corp. (naked short selling debate, 2019) SEC 2019-09-16 Naked Short Selling Debate $200k settled
SEC v. Bio Defense Corporation, et al. (boiler rooms, 2019) SEC 2019-09-13 Boiler Rooms , Unregistered Distributions — judgment
Former director convicted of market manipulation (ASIC, 2019) ASIC 2019-09-09 Price Manipulation — judgment
CFTC v. Dominick Vincent Carducci and VOS Capital Management, LLC (2019) CFTC 2019-09-09 $2.9m judgment
SEC v. Abner Silva (2019) SEC 2019-09-06 $80k settled
SEC v. Toon Goggles Inc., et al. (boiler rooms, 2019) SEC 2019-09-06 Boiler Rooms $5.2m judgment
SEC v. Keith G. Daubenspeck and Geoffrey L. Homer (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-09-05 Insider Trading $111k settled
AMF France v. Benoît Miquel (insider trading, 2019) AMF (France) 2019-09-04 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. Executive Financial Services, Inc. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-09-04 Ponzi Schemes , Unregistered Distributions $8.1m judgment
SEC v. Morrie Tobin et al. (undisclosed control blocks, 2019) SEC 2019-08-30 Undisclosed Control Blocks , Reverse Merger Schemes — settled
SEC v. Live Well Financial, Inc., Michael C. Hild, Eric Rohr, and Darren Stumberger (mismarking, 2019) SEC 2019-08-29 Mismarking — settled
SEC v. EMS Capital LP (naked short selling debate, 2019) SEC 2019-08-27 Naked Short Selling Debate $60k settled
OSC v. Royal Bank of Canada (FX supervision and controls, 2019) OSC 2019-08-26 — settled
OSC v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank (FX supervision and controls, 2019) OSC 2019-08-26 — settled
SEC v. Baker and others (unregistered distributions, 2019) SEC 2019-08-26 Unregistered Distributions $650k judgment
SEC v. Terry Wayne Kelly and Kelly Management, LLC (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-08-22 Ponzi Schemes — settled
SEC v. ICO Rating (paid stock promotion, 2019) SEC 2019-08-20 Paid Stock Promotion $162k settled
SEC v. TherapeuticsMD, Inc. (2019) SEC 2019-08-20 $200k settled
SEC v. Bill Tsai (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-08-16 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. Jehu Hand, et al. (pump and dump, 2019) SEC 2019-08-16 Pump And Dump — judgment
SEC v. Samuel Brown, et al. (price manipulation, 2019) SEC 2019-08-16 Price Manipulation — judgment
SEC v. Lorenz Erne (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-08-15 Insider Trading $79.6k settled
SEC v. Thomas W. Avent, Jr., et al. (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-08-15 Insider Trading — judgment
CFTC v. International Enterprise (rigged binary options execution, 2019) CFTC 2019-08-12 Rigged Binary Options Execution $339m judgment
CFTC v. Cohen (Yukom Communications, rigged binary options execution, 2024) CFTC 2019-08-12 Rigged Binary Options Execution — settled
SEC v. Mark E. Burns (price manipulation, 2019) SEC 2019-08-12 EDGAR Filing Fraud , Price Manipulation +1 $60k judgment
SEC v. Reginald Middleton and Veritaseum (price manipulation, 2019) SEC 2019-08-12 Price Manipulation $1m judgment
SEC v. Tanmaya Kabra, et al. (2019) SEC 2019-08-08 — settled
SEC v. Imran Husain, et al. (shell factories, 2019) SEC 2019-08-06 Shell Factories — judgment