Home / Cases / 2020 Market manipulation enforcement actions filed in 2020 This library records 178 market manipulation enforcement actions filed in 2020, brought by CFTC, 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 $187m
Median penalty $168k
Largest $95.7m
Criminal parallel 37% Action Agency Filed Technique Penalty Status SEC v. DeAndre P. Sears et al. (ponzi schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-12-31 Ponzi Schemes — settled SEC v. Anthony Thompson, Jr., et al. (paid stock promotion, 2020) SEC 2020-12-30 Paid Stock Promotion , Pump And Dump — judgment SEC v. Gregory Altieri (ponzi schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-12-30 Ponzi Schemes — filed SEC v. Jason Peltz (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-12-29 Insider Trading — filed CFTC v. Mark N. Pyatt (ponzi schemes, 2020) CFTC 2020-12-22 Ponzi Schemes $255k judgment SEC v. Cormark Securities Inc. (naked short selling debate, 2020) SEC 2020-12-21 Naked Short Selling Debate — settled SEC v. ITG Canada Corp. and Virtu ITG Canada Corp. (naked short selling debate, 2020) SEC 2020-12-21 Naked Short Selling Debate — settled SEC v. Barton S. Ross (false rumors, 2020) SEC 2020-12-18 False Rumors — settled SEC v. Laksha Bohra (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-12-17 Insider Trading — judgment SEC v. Mancera (wash trading, 2020) SEC 2020-12-17 Wash Trading — judgment SEC v. Ronald Phillips, Esq. (matched orders, 2020) SEC 2020-12-17 Matched Orders — judgment SEC v. Roland M. Mathys (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-12-15 Insider Trading $9.9m unknown SEC v. Christopher Clark and William Wright (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-12-11 Insider Trading — filed SEC v. J. Jeremy Barbera, Carl Smith, and Nanobeak Biotech Inc. (paid stock promotion, 2020) SEC 2020-12-09 Paid Stock Promotion — judgment CFTC v. Vitol Inc. (price manipulation, 2020) CFTC 2020-12-03 Price Manipulation $95.7m judgment CFTC v. unnamed respondents (spoofing, 2020) CFTC 2020-12-01 Spoofing — unknown SEC v. Mark Alan Lisser a/k/a Mark Alan a/k/a Mark Allen (boiler rooms, 2020) SEC 2020-12-01 Boiler Rooms — filed SEC v. Garrett M. O'Rourke and Michael J. Black (pump and dump, 2020) SEC 2020-11-30 Pump And Dump — judgment SEC v. Rumbaugh et al (ponzi schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-11-24 Ponzi Schemes — judgment SEC v. American Portfolios Financial Services, Inc. and American Portfolios Advisors, Inc. (churning, 2020) SEC 2020-11-13 Churning — settled SEC v. Douglas A. Roth (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-11-09 Insider Trading — filed SEC v. Ieremenko et al. (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-11-05 Insider Trading $175k judgment SEC v. Michael J. Pires (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-11-05 Insider Trading $18.6k settled CFTC v. unnamed respondents (paid stock promotion, 2020) CFTC 2020-11-04 Paid Stock Promotion , Ponzi Schemes $450k judgment SEC v. Terrence Chalk, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-11-03 Ponzi Schemes — filed SEC v. Alex Forester, Michael Hicks, Yarden Krampf, Christopher Lee, Sean O'Neal, Michael Raynor, and Lee Sobel (boiler rooms, 2020) SEC 2020-10-27 Boiler Rooms — filed SEC v. Mustafa David Sayid, Esq. (paid stock promotion, 2020) SEC 2020-10-22 Paid Stock Promotion — judgment SEC v. Paul Horton Smith, Sr. and others (ponzi schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-10-22 Ponzi Schemes — judgment SEC v. Reynolds and Norman T., Esq. (paid stock promotion, 2020) SEC 2020-10-22 Paid Stock Promotion — judgment SEC v. Jillian Sidoti (undisclosed control blocks, 2020) SEC 2020-10-19 Undisclosed Control Blocks — filed SEC v. Rudden, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-10-16 Ponzi Schemes — judgment SEC v. Andeavor LLC (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-10-15 Insider Trading — settled CFTC v. unnamed respondents (wash trading, 2020) CFTC 2020-10-13 Wash Trading $5.7m judgment SEC v. Alexander Rowland (ponzi schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-10-13 Ponzi Schemes — filed CFTC v. unnamed respondents (spoofing, 2020) CFTC 2020-10-06 Spoofing — unknown SEC v. McAfee et al. (paid stock promotion, 2020) SEC 2020-10-06 Paid Stock Promotion — filed CFTC v. Chicago Prop Firm and 3 Traders (spoofing, 2020) CFTC 2020-09-30 Spoofing $100k judgment CFTC v. Sunoco (spoofing, 2020) CFTC 2020-09-30 Spoofing $450k judgment CFTC v. Texas Man (wash trading, 2020) CFTC 2020-09-30 Wash Trading $670k judgment SEC v. Drew Morgan Ciccarelli (pump and dump, 2020) SEC 2020-09-30 Pump And Dump — filed SEC v. Joel Stohlman, et al. (matched orders, 2020) SEC 2020-09-30 Matched Orders , Paid Stock Promotion — filed SEC v. Michael Staisil (ponzi schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-09-30 Ponzi Schemes — filed SEC v. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (naked short selling debate, 2020) SEC 2020-09-30 Naked Short Selling Debate — settled SEC v. Thomas J. Gity, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-09-30 Ponzi Schemes — filed SEC v. Todd W. Mixon (ponzi schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-09-30 Ponzi Schemes — filed CFTC v. JPMorgan (price manipulation, 2020) CFTC 2020-09-29 Price Manipulation , Spoofing — judgment CFTC v. New Jersey Firm (wash trading, 2020) CFTC 2020-09-29 Wash Trading $300k judgment CFTC v. Slovakian Men and Their Company (spoofing, 2020) CFTC 2020-09-29 Spoofing — filed SEC v. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (cash vs derivatives schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-09-29 Cash Vs Derivatives Schemes , Layering +1 — filed SEC v. Lewis I. Wallach (ponzi schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-09-29 Ponzi Schemes — settled CFTC v. New York Firm and its Trader (spoofing, 2020) CFTC 2020-09-28 Spoofing $135k judgment SEC v. Laksha Bohra, Viky Bohra, and Gotham Bohra (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-09-28 Insider Trading — judgment SEC v. Christopher D. Bachinski (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-09-25 Insider Trading $23.1k settled SEC v. Eric M. Hill (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-09-25 Insider Trading — filed SEC v. Rachelle A. Thatcher (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-09-25 Insider Trading $11.6k settled SEC v. Craig A. Zabala (ponzi schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-09-24 Ponzi Schemes — filed SEC v. Edward T. Kelly (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-09-23 Insider Trading — judgment SEC v. PowerTradersPress.com, Inc., et al. (boiler rooms, 2020) SEC 2020-09-21 Boiler Rooms — judgment SEC v. Robert Hoddes Jacobs (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-09-21 Insider Trading $157k judgment SEC v. Scott Allen Fries (ponzi schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-09-17 Ponzi Schemes — filed SEC v. Steven J. Sheinfeld (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-09-17 Insider Trading — filed CFTC v. 4 Florida Men (ponzi schemes, 2020) CFTC 2020-09-16 Ponzi Schemes — filed SEC v. Henry Sargent et al. (undisclosed control blocks, 2020) SEC 2020-09-16 Undisclosed Control Blocks — judgment CFTC v. Edge Financial Technologies (spoofing, 2020) CFTC 2020-09-15 Spoofing $48.4k judgment SEC v. Unikrn, Inc. (paid stock promotion, 2020) SEC 2020-09-15 Paid Stock Promotion — settled CFTC v. Walsh (ponzi schemes, 2020) CFTC 2020-09-11 Ponzi Schemes — judgment SEC v. Craig P. Moyes (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-09-10 Insider Trading $116k settled SEC v. Richard M. Kirsch and Adam Terris (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-09-10 Insider Trading $1.1m settled SEC v. Covalent Collective, Inc. (unregistered distributions, 2020) SEC 2020-09-03 Unregistered Distributions — settled SEC v. Peter DiChiara (reverse merger schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-09-03 Reverse Merger Schemes $40k judgment SEC v. Phillip W. Conley (ponzi schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-09-03 Ponzi Schemes — filed SEC v. Steven Fitzgerald Brown (ponzi schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-09-03 Ponzi Schemes — settled SEC v. Yue Li (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-09-03 Insider Trading — settled CFTC v. Multiple Individuals and Entities (ponzi schemes, 2020) CFTC 2020-08-28 Ponzi Schemes — filed SEC v. Sepehr Sarshar (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-08-25 Insider Trading — filed CFTC v. The Bank of Nova Scotia (spoofing, 2020) CFTC 2020-08-19 Spoofing $17m judgment CFTC v. The Bank of Nova Scotia (spoofing, 2020) CFTC 2020-08-19 Spoofing $50m judgment SEC v. Milan K. Patel, Esq. (pump and dump, 2020) SEC 2020-08-14 Pump And Dump — unknown SEC v. Dale Tenhulzen et al. (ponzi schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-08-13 Ponzi Schemes — settled SEC v. Kelvin Boon, LLC and Rajesh Pavithran (undisclosed control blocks, 2020) SEC 2020-08-13 Undisclosed Control Blocks — settled SEC v. Sean R. Stewart et al. (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-08-13 Insider Trading — judgment SEC v. Vu Anh Nguyen, et al. (free riding and parking, 2020) SEC 2020-08-11 Free Riding And Parking — settled SEC v. Nicholas Mejia Scrivener (layering, 2020) SEC 2020-08-10 Layering , Spoofing $50k settled SEC v. Jack Brewer (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-08-06 Insider Trading — filed CFTC v. NYMEX (insider trading, 2020) CFTC 2020-08-04 Insider Trading $4m settled SEC v. Victor Lee Farias and Integrity Aviation & Leasing, LLC (ponzi schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-08-04 Ponzi Schemes — filed SEC v. Mustafa David Sayid (pump and dump, 2020) SEC 2020-07-29 Pump And Dump $160k judgment SEC v. Celadon Financial Group LLC (naked short selling debate, 2020) SEC 2020-07-27 Naked Short Selling Debate — settled SEC v. Harold L. Altvater (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-07-24 Insider Trading — judgment SEC v. IRTH Communications, LLC and Andrew Haag (paid stock promotion, 2020) SEC 2020-07-22 Paid Stock Promotion $35k settled SEC v. Edmond Leung (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-07-21 Insider Trading $69.6k settled SEC v. Joseph Zhang (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-07-21 Insider Trading $66.7k settled SEC v. Abetterfinancialplan.Com, LLC (unregistered distributions, 2020) SEC 2020-07-14 Unregistered Distributions — settled SEC v. Plutus Financial Inc. d/b/a Abra and Plutus Technologies Philippines Corp. (paid stock promotion, 2020) SEC 2020-07-13 Paid Stock Promotion — settled CFTC v. California and Colorado Residents (ponzi schemes, 2020) CFTC 2020-07-08 Ponzi Schemes — filed CFTC v. Illinois Resident and Broker (wash trading, 2020) CFTC 2020-07-06 Wash Trading $250k judgment SEC v. Ralph C. Greaves, Esq. (ponzi schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-07-06 Ponzi Schemes — judgment SEC v. Michelle Dipp (reverse merger schemes, 2020) SEC 2020-06-30 Reverse Merger Schemes — settled SEC v. BNP Paribas Securities Corp. (naked short selling debate, 2020) SEC 2020-06-29 Naked Short Selling Debate — settled SEC v. Dandan Wu (insider trading, 2020) SEC 2020-06-29 Insider Trading — settled
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