The SEC has implicated 34 defendants in a scheme involving the manipulation of microcap stock trades. According to the SEC, 15 of the defendants are individuals and 19 are entities. Out of those 19 entities, six are firms that allegedly acted as unregistered broker-dealers. The group of defendants also comprises Warrior Girl Corp and Nature’s Peak / Everock, Inc., microcap issuers, customers, and stock promoters. Charges included fraud, manipulative trading, and other misconduct.
In the complaint, the SEC claims that Moneyline Brokers and founder Harold Baily Gallison II were complicit in the scheme by acting as broker-dealer for customers engaging in pump-and-dump schemes. Allegedly, this company received microcap stock transfers and reissued the stock certificates in Moneyline’s name in order to hide who actually owned the shares.
Two individuals, residents of Miami and controllers of Warrior Girl, allegedly worked with Moneyline to manipulate trading in Warrior Girl. This alleged conspiracy resulted in profits of approximately $2.3 million. In another, similar scheme, manipulation of trades in Everock (later, Nature’s Peak) resulted in illegal profits of approximately $2.5 million.
Microcap stock fraud is a type of investment misconduct specifically concerning microcap stocks, that is, stocks of U.S. public companies valued at about $50 million to $300 million. Some, but not all, microcap stocks are penny stocks. You can read more about penny stock fraud here.
Many microcap stock fraud schemes take the form of pump and dump schemes, which are schemes that use lies and hype to increase public interest in stocks to inflate their price. You can read more about pump and dump schemes here.
If you or someone you know has lost money through fraud or misconduct, Meyer Wilson can step in to help. This year alone, our law firm has recovered more than $350 million for our clients. Contact us today for a free review of your case.
