Three men were recently charged in connection with an alleged illegal pump-and-dump stock manipulation scheme.
Mark Allen Miller, 43, of Breezy Point, Minnesota, Christopher James Rajkaran, 35, of Queens, New York, and Guyana, and Saeid Jaberian, 59, of Hopkins, Minnesota, were each charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud and wire fraud.
As stated in a Department of Justice news release:
The three men “devised and carried out a scheme to surreptitiously hijack and assume control over dormant public shell companies. The defendants used their control over the companies to fraudulently manipulate and pump up the price of the companies’ stock so that they could profit from the sale of stock to unwitting investors.”
“According to court documents, the defendants acquired large amounts of stock in dormant public shell companies that traded over-the-counter at low prices, often less than $0.01 per share. The defendants then assumed control over the shell companies by creating fake and filing fake resignation letters and board resolutions purporting to announce the resignation of the existing management team and the appointment of one or more conspirators as new officers and directors of the companies. The conspirators used their control over the hijacked shell companies to issue fraudulent press releases and filings designed to fraudulently inflate and “pump up” the price of the hijacked companies’ stock. The defendants then sold or ‘dumped’ their stock at the fraudulently inflated prices.”
If you have suffered losses in an investment scheme or “pump-and-dump” scheme, Fishman Haygood’s Securities Lawyers may be able to help. Contact us for a free evaluation of your potential claims.
