A federal grand jury in Texas has indicted eight men for participating in a conspiracy to commit securities fraud in a social media scheme worth $114 million, the US Justice Department said on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th December, 2022) A Federal grand jury in Texas has indicted eight men for participating in a conspiracy to commit securities fraud in a social media scheme worth $114 million, the US Justice Department said on Wednesday.
"Securities fraud victimizes innocent investors and undermines the integrity of our public markets," the Justice Department said in a press release. "As these charges demonstrate, the department will continue to prosecute those who defraud investors by spreading false and misleading information, including over social media, to line their own pockets."
The men allegedly used their extensive social media presence on Twitter and Discord to generate interest in particular securities by posting false and misleading information to increase their prices while concealing the intent to sell them at the artificially inflated prices, the release said.
From around January 2020 to around April 2022, the defendants profited at least approximately $114 million from their scheme, the release said.
The defendants include: Edward Constantinescu of Montgomery, Texas; Perry Matlock of The Woodlands, Texas; John Rybarczyk of Spring, Texas; Gary Deel of Beverly Hills, California; Stefan Hrvatin of Miami, Florida; Tom Cooperman of Beverly Hills, California; Mitchell Hennessey of Hoboken, New Jersey; and Dan Knight of Houston, Texas, the release said.
All eight men have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. In addition, Constantinescu has been charged with three counts of securities fraud and one count of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity; Matlock and Deel have both been charged with five counts of securities fraud; Rybarczyk has been charged with four counts of securities fraud; and Hrvatin, Cooperman and Hennessey have been each charged with two counts of securities fraud, the release added.
The defendants made their initial court appearances on Tuesday, according to the release.
