Market Manipulation. Search

SEC v. Philip Verges, James D. Tilton, Jr., Robert F. Malin, Linda Malin, and others (pump and dump, 2023)

Status unknown

Machine-extracted, pending human review. The structured fields on this page were parsed automatically from the regulator's own release, linked below. Read the primary document before relying on any figure here, and tell us if something is wrong.

In 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission brought an action against Philip Verges, James D. Tilton, Jr., Robert F. Malin, Linda Malin,, Blue Citi, LLC, Defendants,, SMEA2Z, LLC, 143 Partners LLC, West Cucharras, LLC, and JDT Trading, LLC, Relief Defendants, alleging conduct this library classifies as pump and dump. The release does not state a monetary figure that we were able to extract.

The record

Structured fields for this action, as recorded in our case library.
Agency SEC
Release number LR-25853
Date filed 2023-09-26
Court U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas
Status unknown
Asset class equities
Criminal parallel No
Bars imposed officer-and-director bar, penny stock bar
Defendants Philip Verges, James D. Tilton, Jr., Robert F. Malin, Linda Malin, (individual) ; Blue Citi, LLC, Defendants, (entity) ; SMEA2Z, LLC, 143 Partners LLC, West Cucharras, LLC, (entity) ; JDT Trading, LLC, Relief Defendants (entity)
Techniques Pump and dump

What was ordered

Civil penalty
Disgorgement
Prejudgment interest
Total relief
Alleged gain

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

the Securities and Exchange Commission announced this matter on September 26, 2023 as release LR-25853. The respondents named are Philip Verges, James D. Tilton, Jr., Robert F. Malin, Linda Malin,, Blue Citi, LLC, Defendants,, SMEA2Z, LLC, 143 Partners LLC, West Cucharras, LLC, and JDT Trading, LLC, Relief Defendants (1 individual, 3 entities). The action was brought in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas.

This library tags the matter as pump and dump, based on the conduct the regulator describes. Each tag links to a page explaining how that technique works, what statute it engages, and what penalties comparable actions have attracted. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

The conduct is recorded against equities.

Non-monetary relief recorded: officer-and-director bar, penny stock bar.

For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the release.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with one technique in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

Timeline

  1. 2023-09-26 Litigation release published

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Action Agency Filed Technique Penalty Status
SEC v. Michael J. Forster (pump and dump, 2026) SEC 2026-07-15 Pump And Dump judgment
SEC v. George John Drazenovic, CPA (pump and dump, 2026) SEC 2026-04-20 Pump And Dump judgment
SEC v. Geoffrey Allen Wall (pump and dump, 2026) SEC 2026-04-09 Pump And Dump judgment
SEC v. Canaccord Genuity LLC (marking the close, 2026) SEC 2026-03-06 Marking The Close , Marking The Open +2 settled
SEC v. Saeid Jaberian (pump and dump, 2026) SEC 2026-01-27 Pump And Dump judgment
SEC v. George John Drazenovic (paid stock promotion, 2025) SEC 2025-12-19 Paid Stock Promotion , Pump And Dump judgment

Record added September 8, 2026. submit a correction.