Market Manipulation. Search

Market manipulation enforcement actions filed in 2019

This library records 181 market manipulation enforcement actions filed in 2019, 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
$97.2m
Median penalty
$1m
Largest
$37.5m
Criminal parallel
42%
Action Agency Filed Technique Penalty Status
SEC v. Amir Waldman, et al. (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-12-23 Insider Trading judgment
CFTC v. Executive at Global Investment Bank (price manipulation, 2019) CFTC 2019-12-20 Price Manipulation filed
SEC v. S. Paul Kelley, et al. (reverse merger schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-12-20 Reverse Merger Schemes , Unregistered Distributions unknown
SEC v. Songjiang Wang (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-12-20 Insider Trading filed
SEC v. Janardhan Nellore et al. (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-12-18 Insider Trading unknown
SEC v. Robert A. Karmann (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-12-18 Ponzi Schemes settled
SEC v. Sam A. Antar (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-12-18 Ponzi Schemes filed
SEC v. John Special, Defendant, and Michael Murphy, Relief Defendant, John Kenneth Davidson (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-12-12 Insider Trading $1.5m judgment
CFTC v. New Mexico Resident (ponzi schemes, 2019) CFTC 2019-12-10 Ponzi Schemes filed
SEC v. Christopher Collins, et al. (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-12-10 Insider Trading judgment
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 filed
CFTC v. unnamed respondents (spoofing, 2019) CFTC 2019-11-25 Spoofing unknown
SEC v. Brett Pittsenbargar, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-11-25 Ponzi Schemes filed
SEC v. Kevin B. Merrill, et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-11-25 Ponzi Schemes filed
SEC v. Bandimere and others (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 unknown
SEC v. James S. Kimmel (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-11-19 Insider Trading unknown
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. Proprietary Trading Firm (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 judgment
SEC v. Richard Eden, et al. and Dale Pearlman (undisclosed control blocks, 2019) SEC 2019-11-04 Undisclosed Control Blocks $125k 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 filed
SEC v. Bryan Cohen and George Nikas (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-10-22 Insider Trading unknown
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 , Paid Stock Promotion filed
CFTC v. Nevada Company and its Owner (ponzi schemes, 2019) CFTC 2019-10-16 Ponzi Schemes unknown
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 , Undisclosed Control Blocks unknown
SEC v. Anton Senderov, et al. (boiler rooms, 2019) SEC 2019-10-10 Boiler Rooms filed
SEC v. Daniel Rivas, et al. (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-10-10 Insider Trading judgment
SEC v. Lek Securities Corp., et al. (layering, 2019) SEC 2019-10-10 Layering $1m judgment
CFTC v. Sechovich (wash trading, 2019) CFTC 2019-10-07 Wash Trading judgment
CFTC v. Chicago Trading Firm Belvedere Trading LLC (spoofing, 2019) CFTC 2019-10-01 Spoofing $1.1m judgment
CFTC v. Energy Broker and Its Owner (front running, 2019) CFTC 2019-10-01 Front Running $1.5m judgment
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. Trading Firm Mitsubishi International Corporation (spoofing, 2019) CFTC 2019-10-01 Spoofing $400k judgment
CFTC v. Two Trading Firms (spoofing, 2019) CFTC 2019-10-01 Spoofing $1.5m judgment
CFTC v. Chicago Trading Firm and Its Co-Founder (price manipulation, 2019) CFTC 2019-09-30 Price Manipulation , Spoofing $1.8m judgment
SEC v. Block.One (unregistered distributions, 2019) SEC 2019-09-30 Unregistered Distributions settled
SEC v. Gil Beserglik, et al. (boiler rooms, 2019) SEC 2019-09-30 Boiler Rooms filed
SEC v. James T. Booth (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-09-30 Ponzi Schemes filed
SEC v. iQuantifi, Inc. and Thomas F. White (unregistered distributions, 2019) SEC 2019-09-27 Unregistered Distributions $25k settled
SEC v. Sean Stewart, et al. (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-09-26 Insider Trading appealed
SEC v. Andres Fernandez and Edison Denizard (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-09-25 Ponzi Schemes unknown
SEC v. Chip Hackley (matched orders, 2019) SEC 2019-09-25 Matched Orders , Undisclosed Control Blocks unknown
SEC v. George Matin (matched orders, 2019) SEC 2019-09-25 Matched Orders , Paid Stock Promotion +2 settled
SEC v. Harold Minsky (matched orders, 2019) SEC 2019-09-25 Matched Orders , Paid Stock Promotion +2 settled
SEC v. James Alex Irvin (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-09-25 Insider Trading 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 $140k judgment
SEC v. Benjamin Conde, Defendant, and others (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 unknown
SEC v. Brian Robert Sodi, et al. (newsletter scalping, 2019) SEC 2019-09-19 Newsletter Scalping , Paid Stock Promotion +1 settled
SEC v. Mediatrix Capital Inc., et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-09-18 Ponzi Schemes filed
CFTC v. Christian Trunz (spoofing, 2019) CFTC 2019-09-16 Spoofing judgment
CFTC v. Futures Trader and Industrial Firm (spoofing, 2019) CFTC 2019-09-16 Spoofing $130k judgment
CFTC v. Traders at Major U.S. Bank (price manipulation, 2019) CFTC 2019-09-16 Price Manipulation , Spoofing filed
SEC v. Marvell Technology Group, Ltd. (paid stock promotion, 2019) SEC 2019-09-16 Paid Stock Promotion settled
SEC v. Vandham Securities Corp. (boiler rooms, 2019) SEC 2019-09-16 Boiler Rooms , Naked Short Selling Debate +1 settled
SEC v. Bio Defense Corporation, et al. (boiler rooms, 2019) SEC 2019-09-13 Boiler Rooms , Unregistered Distributions $37.5m judgment
CFTC v. Unregistered Forex Trading Firm and Its Principal (ponzi schemes, 2019) CFTC 2019-09-09 Ponzi Schemes filed
SEC v. Abner Silva (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-09-06 Insider Trading settled
SEC v. Toon Goggles Inc., et al. (boiler rooms, 2019) SEC 2019-09-06 Boiler Rooms judgment
SEC v. Keith G. Daubenspeck and Geoffrey L. Homer (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-09-05 Insider Trading $111k judgment
SEC v. Executive Financial Services, Inc. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-09-04 Ponzi Schemes , Unregistered Distributions unknown
SEC v. Morrie Tobin et al. (paid stock promotion, 2019) SEC 2019-08-30 Paid Stock Promotion , Reverse Merger Schemes filed
SEC v. EMS Capital LP (naked short selling debate, 2019) SEC 2019-08-27 Naked Short Selling Debate settled
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 settled
SEC v. TherapeuticsMD, Inc. (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-08-20 Insider Trading settled
SEC v. Bill Tsai (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-08-16 Insider Trading filed
SEC v. Jehu Hand, et al. (pump and dump, 2019) SEC 2019-08-16 Pump And Dump judgment
SEC v. Samuel Brown, et al. (paid stock promotion, 2019) SEC 2019-08-16 Paid Stock Promotion 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 settled
CFTC v. International Enterprise (boiler rooms, 2019) CFTC 2019-08-12 Boiler Rooms unknown
SEC v. Mark E. Burns (price manipulation, 2019) SEC 2019-08-12 Price Manipulation judgment
SEC v. Tanmaya Kabra et al. (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-08-08 Ponzi Schemes unknown
SEC v. Gregg Evan Jaclin, Esq. (shell factories, 2019) SEC 2019-08-06 Shell Factories judgment
SEC v. Imran Husain, et al. (shell factories, 2019) SEC 2019-08-06 Shell Factories judgment
CFTC v. Trader (spoofing, 2019) CFTC 2019-07-31 Spoofing $150k judgment
SEC v. James W. Holden (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-07-31 Insider Trading settled
SEC v. Beaufort Secs. Ltd. and Kyriacou. (pump and dump, 2019) SEC 2019-07-29 Pump And Dump judgment
SEC v. Christopher Plaford (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-07-29 Insider Trading judgment
CFTC v. Corey D. Flaum (price manipulation, 2019) CFTC 2019-07-25 Price Manipulation , Spoofing unknown
SEC v. Balaji Sundarraj and David O'brien (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-07-23 Insider Trading $35k settled
CFTC v. unnamed respondents (paid stock promotion, 2019) CFTC 2019-07-19 Paid Stock Promotion $2.9m judgment
SEC v. Carol J. Wayland, et al. (boiler rooms, 2019) SEC 2019-07-19 Boiler Rooms , Unregistered Distributions judgment
SEC v. Garrett M. O'Rourke and Michael J. Black (pump and dump, 2019) SEC 2019-07-19 Pump And Dump unknown
SEC v. Jun Ying (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-07-18 Insider Trading judgment
SEC v. Mark Loman (insider trading, 2019) SEC 2019-07-18 Insider Trading unknown
SEC v. William J. Milles, Jr. and Donald J. Lutzko (ponzi schemes, 2019) SEC 2019-07-18 Ponzi Schemes filed
SEC v. Zev Saltsman, et al. (unregistered distributions, 2019) SEC 2019-07-17 Unregistered Distributions judgment