Opinion ID: 2771328
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Georgiou’s Four Manipulation

Text: Schemes: Neutron, Avicena, HYHY, and Northern Ethanol Georgiou and his co-conspirators manipulated the prices of the Target Stocks by creating matched trades,5 wash sales,6 and misleading email blasts. They used various alias accounts, nominees, and offshore brokerage accounts to conceal both their ownership of the Target Stocks and their involvement in the fraudulent scheme. At least some of the manipulative trades were transacted through market makers7 located in the United 5 “A ‘matched trade’ is an order to buy or sell securities that is entered with knowledge that a matching order on the opposite side of the transaction has been or will be entered for the purpose of: (1) creating a false or misleading appearance of active trading in any publicly traded security; or (2) creating a false or misleading appearance with respect to the market for any such security.” (Indictment ¶ 9.) 6 “A ‘wash sale’ is an order to buy or sell securities resulting in no change of beneficial ownership for the purpose of: (1) creating a false or misleading appearance of active trading in any publicly traded security; or (2) creating a false or misleading appearance with respect to the market for any such security.” (Indictment ¶ 10.) 7 “A market maker is a firm that facilitates trading in a stock, provides quotes [for] both a buy and sell price for a stock, and potentially profits from the price spread.” (Indictment ¶ 33.); see also 15 U.S.C. § 78c(38) (A “market maker means any specialist permitted to act as a dealer . . . and any dealer who, 6 States. Georgiou communicated via phone and e-mail with Waltzer about their plans, and also had occasional in-person meetings with Waltzer and others in the United States about these schemes. In these communications, Georgiou provided direction on how to implement the manipulative schemes, and demonstrated his role and culpability in orchestrating and perpetrating the fraud. After fourteen months, Georgiou wired $5,000 to the account of an undercover FBI agent as part of a test transaction. Six days later, Georgiou was arrested.