Market Manipulation. Search

Market manipulation case library

This library records 2,117 market manipulation enforcement actions brought by financial regulators, each with the agency, the date, the alleged technique, the monetary relief ordered and a link to the regulator's own filing. The whole dataset is downloadable as JSON.

Actions
2,117
Total penalties
$15.4bn
Median penalty
$258k
Agencies
2
Techniques
36

Browse by facet

Every facet below is a real page with its own URL, so it works without JavaScript and can be linked, bookmarked and cited.

By technique

Insider trading 608 Ponzi schemes 532 Paid stock promotion 219 Unregistered distributions 136 Pump and dump 121 Undisclosed control blocks 119 Spoofing 114 Wash trading 90 Price manipulation 72 Boiler rooms 71 Reverse merger schemes 66 The naked short selling debate 41 Benchmark submission rigging 32 Matched orders 24 Churning 19 Free riding and parking 18 Fake press releases 16 Layering 15 Newsletter scalping 15 Marking the close 10 Cash versus derivatives schemes 10 Front running 9 Shell factories 8 Chat group pumps 6 False rumours 5 Custodianship shell hijacking 5 Settlement price manipulation 4 Exchange wash trading 3 Banging the close 3 FX fixing 3 Engineered short squeeze 2 Marking the open 1 Rug pulls 1 Insider listing trading 1 Oracle manipulation 1 Float locking 1

By agency

CFTC 349 SEC 1768

By year filed

2026 85 2025 103 2024 182 2023 202 2022 174 2021 142 2020 178 2019 181 2018 221 2017 210 2016 179 2015 205 2014 27 2013 28

Ranked lists: largest penalties · largest spoofing penalties · longest sentences · most-charged individuals · biggest crypto cases · most active courts

All actions, newest first

Action Agency Filed Technique Penalty Status
SEC v. Jerard Basmagy (undisclosed control blocks, 2018) SEC 2018-05-16 Unregistered Distributions $15k 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 — dismissed
SEC v. Bovorn Rungruangnavarat (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-05-07 Insider Trading $2m settled
SEC v. David A. Zimliki and Russel P. Schiefer (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-05-04 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. Eddy U. Marin and Shane R. Spierdowis (paid stock promotion, 2018) SEC 2018-05-02 Paid Stock Promotion , Pump And Dump — settled
SEC v. Small Business Capital Corp. and others (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-05-02 Ponzi Schemes $10k judgment
CFTC v. Charles H. McAllister of Alabama (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-04-30 Ponzi Schemes — filed
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. (paid stock promotion, 2018) SEC 2018-04-30 Paid Stock Promotion — judgment
SEC v. Diane J. Harrison, et al. (fake press releases, 2018) SEC 2018-04-30 Fake Press Releases — settled
SEC v. William T. Walters, et al. (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-04-30 Insider Trading — dismissed
SEC v. AF Ocean Investment Management Company (reverse merger schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-04-25 Reverse Merger Schemes — settled
SEC v. Andy Z. Fan (fake press releases, 2018) SEC 2018-04-25 Fake Press Releases , Matched Orders +1 — settled
SEC v. ChinAmerica Andy Movie Entertainment Media Company (reverse merger schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-04-25 Reverse Merger Schemes — settled
SEC v. Scott Newsholme (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-04-23 Ponzi Schemes — judgment
SEC v. Amrit J. S. Chahal (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-04-16 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Douglas Nelson (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-04-16 Insider Trading $15.1k settled
SEC v. Andrew J. Kandelapas (paid stock promotion, 2018) SEC 2018-04-13 Paid Stock Promotion $240k settled
CFTC v. The Kane Capital Investment Group (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-04-12 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Wellness Center USA, Inc. (fake press releases, 2018) SEC 2018-04-12 Fake Press Releases , Paid Stock Promotion — settled
SEC v. William C. Gennity and Rocco Roveccio (churning, 2018) SEC 2018-04-11 Churning — judgment
SEC v. The Lifepay Group, LLC, et. al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-04-10 Ponzi Schemes — filed
CFTC v. Floor Broker Anuj C. Singhal (spoofing, 2018) CFTC 2018-04-09 Spoofing $150k judgment
SEC v. AMC Holdings, LLC (boiler rooms, 2018) SEC 2018-04-05 Boiler Rooms — filed
SEC v. Joseph Meli, et al., Craig H. Carton, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-04-05 Ponzi Schemes — unknown
SEC v. Saverio J. Barbera (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-04-05 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. Christopher James Lollar (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-04-04 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. Michael Scronic (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-04-04 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Shane P. Fleming, et al. (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-04-04 Insider Trading — filed
SEC v. Sohrab ("Sam") Sharma and Robert Farkas (unregistered distributions, 2018) SEC 2018-04-02 Unregistered Distributions — filed
SEC v. Aegis Capital Corporation (paid stock promotion, 2018) SEC 2018-03-28 Paid Stock Promotion , Pump And Dump — filed
SEC v. Terracciano and Eugene (paid stock promotion, 2018) SEC 2018-03-28 Paid Stock Promotion — unknown
SEC v. Timary Delorme (pump and dump, 2018) SEC 2018-03-27 Pump And Dump $50k settled
SEC v. Joseph Spera, et al. (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-03-26 Insider Trading — filed
SEC v. Jon E. Montroll and Bitfunder (unregistered distributions, 2018) SEC 2018-03-23 Unregistered Distributions — filed
SEC v. Spark Trading Group LLC and Niket Shah (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-03-23 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Jun Ying (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-03-22 Insider Trading — filed
SEC v. Steven Metro (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-03-19 Insider Trading — filed
SEC v. Beaufort Securities Ltd. and others (matched orders, 2018) SEC 2018-03-16 Matched Orders , Pump And Dump — filed
SEC v. Merrill Lynch and Pierce and Fenner & Smith Incorporated (unregistered distributions, 2018) SEC 2018-03-08 Unregistered Distributions — settled
SEC v. New York Stock Exchange LLC and NYSE American LLC and NYSE Arca, Inc. (benchmark submission rigging, 2018) SEC 2018-03-06 Benchmark Submission Rigging — settled
SEC v. AmeraTex Energy, Inc., et al (unregistered distributions, 2018) SEC 2018-02-28 Unregistered Distributions — filed
SEC v. Analytica Bio-Energy Corp., et al., Marvin Winick (undisclosed control blocks, 2018) SEC 2018-02-28 Undisclosed Control Blocks — judgment
SEC v. Yang Xie (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-02-28 Insider Trading $6.7k settled
SEC v. Alan Weinberg, CPA and Weinberg & Baer LLC (reverse merger schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-02-21 Reverse Merger Schemes , Undisclosed Control Blocks — judgment
SEC v. Jonathan Strum, Esq. (reverse merger schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-02-21 Reverse Merger Schemes , Undisclosed Control Blocks — judgment
SEC v. Eric McPhail, et al. (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-02-20 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. Ara Chackerian (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-02-12 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. Geoffrey H. Lunn, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-02-12 Ponzi Schemes — judgment
SEC v. Andrew H. Wilson, Esq. (undisclosed control blocks, 2018) SEC 2018-02-05 Unregistered Distributions — judgment
CFTC v. Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. (benchmark submission rigging, 2018) CFTC 2018-02-01 Benchmark Submission Rigging , Price Manipulation $70m judgment
SEC v. Daniel T. Fischer (churning, 2018) SEC 2018-01-30 Churning — judgment
CFTC v. Andre Flotron (spoofing, 2018) CFTC 2018-01-29 Spoofing — filed
CFTC v. Deutsche Bank (price manipulation, 2018) CFTC 2018-01-29 Price Manipulation , Spoofing $30m judgment
CFTC v. HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. Pay $1.6 Million Penalty (spoofing, 2018) CFTC 2018-01-29 Spoofing $1.6m judgment
CFTC v. James Vorley and Cedric Chanu (spoofing, 2018) CFTC 2018-01-29 Spoofing — filed
CFTC v. Jiongsheng Zhao (spoofing, 2018) CFTC 2018-01-29 Spoofing — filed
CFTC v. Jitesh Thakkar and Edge Financial Technologies (spoofing, 2018) CFTC 2018-01-29 Spoofing — filed
CFTC v. Three Banks (price manipulation, 2018) CFTC 2018-01-29 Price Manipulation , Spoofing $1.6m judgment
CFTC v. Trader Krishna Mohan (spoofing, 2018) CFTC 2018-01-29 Spoofing — filed
CFTC v. UBS (price manipulation, 2018) CFTC 2018-01-29 Price Manipulation , Spoofing $15m judgment
SEC v. One or More Unknown Traders in the Securities of Bioverativ, Inc. (insider trading, 2018) SEC 2018-01-26 Insider Trading — judgment
CFTC v. Randall Crater (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-01-24 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Ash Narayan, The Ticket Reserve Inc. a/k/a Forward Market Media, Inc., Richard M. Harmon, and John A. Kaptrosky (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-01-22 Ponzi Schemes $325k judgment
CFTC v. Colorado Resident Dillon Michael Dean and His Company (ponzi schemes, 2018) CFTC 2018-01-19 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. David S. Haddad, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2018) SEC 2018-01-11 Ponzi Schemes $181k judgment
SEC v. Robert H. Shapiro, Woodbridge Group of Companies, LLC, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-12-21 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Stephen C. Peters, VisionQuest Wealth Management, LLC, VisionQuest Capital, LLC, and VQ Wealth, LLC (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-12-21 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Ronald A. Fossum, Jr. and Alonzo R. Cahoon (unregistered distributions, 2017) SEC 2017-12-20 Unregistered Distributions — filed
SEC v. Jason A. Wallace (boiler rooms, 2017) SEC 2017-12-18 Boiler Rooms — judgment
SEC v. Kenneth Peer (insider trading, 2017) SEC 2017-12-14 Insider Trading $10.2k settled
SEC v. Lanny Brown, et al. (insider trading, 2017) SEC 2017-12-14 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. Stephen J. Leonard (insider trading, 2017) SEC 2017-12-07 Insider Trading $107k judgment
SEC v. Palladino and James M. (paid stock promotion, 2017) SEC 2017-11-29 Paid Stock Promotion — unknown
CFTC v. unnamed respondents (spoofing, 2017) CFTC 2017-11-22 Spoofing , Wash Trading — unknown
SEC v. Capital Financial Partners, LLC et al. (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-11-17 Ponzi Schemes — judgment
SEC v. Nathan Whitney Drage, Esq. (reverse merger schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-11-17 Reverse Merger Schemes — unknown
SEC v. Pedro Fort Berbel et al. (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-11-16 Ponzi Schemes — filed
CFTC v. INTL FCStone Financial Inc. and FCStone Merchant Services LLC (wash trading, 2017) CFTC 2017-11-14 Wash Trading $280k judgment
CFTC v. Statoil ASA (price manipulation, 2017) CFTC 2017-11-14 Price Manipulation , Settlement Price Manipulation $4m judgment
SEC v. Susan L. Ellerin and Edward D. Blumstein (insider trading, 2017) SEC 2017-11-14 Insider Trading — settled
SEC v. The End of the Rainbow Partners, L.L.C., and others (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-11-14 Ponzi Schemes — unknown
SEC v. Ferrone and Stephen D. (paid stock promotion, 2017) SEC 2017-11-08 Paid Stock Promotion $120k judgment
SEC v. James P. Kolf (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-11-03 Ponzi Schemes — settled
SEC v. Joseph Meli, et al. and Craig H. Carton, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-10-31 Ponzi Schemes — unknown
SEC v. Andalusian Resorts and others (fake press releases, 2017) SEC 2017-10-30 Fake Press Releases , Paid Stock Promotion +2 — filed
SEC v. Artemus Mayor (paid stock promotion, 2017) SEC 2017-10-26 Paid Stock Promotion , Pump And Dump — settled
SEC v. Canterbury Consulting, Inc. (churning, 2017) SEC 2017-10-26 Churning — settled
SEC v. Harold J. Swart, Jr. (undisclosed control blocks, 2017) SEC 2017-10-26 Undisclosed Control Blocks — judgment
SEC v. J. Patrick O'Neill and Robert H. Bray (insider trading, 2017) SEC 2017-10-25 Insider Trading — appealed
SEC v. Mayank Gupta, CPA (insider trading, 2017) SEC 2017-10-19 Insider Trading — judgment
SEC v. James M. Schneider (pump and dump, 2017) SEC 2017-10-11 Pump And Dump , Reverse Merger Schemes — filed
CFTC v. Arab Global Commodities DMCC (spoofing, 2017) CFTC 2017-10-10 Spoofing $300k judgment
SEC v. Marc A. Celello (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-10-06 Ponzi Schemes — filed
SEC v. Homero Joshua Garza (ponzi schemes, 2017) SEC 2017-10-04 Ponzi Schemes — judgment
SEC v. Arun J. Singh (insider trading, 2017) SEC 2017-10-03 Insider Trading $25k judgment
SEC v. Jammin' Java Corp. et al. (pump and dump, 2017) SEC 2017-10-03 Pump And Dump $26.4m appealed
SEC v. Martin T. Cantu (fake press releases, 2017) SEC 2017-10-02 Fake Press Releases , Pump And Dump — unknown