WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced charges Dec. 12 against New Jersey-based traders Joseph Taub and Elazar Shmalo for allegedly manipulating more than 2,000 NYSE- and NASDAQ-traded stocks and gaining roughly $26 million in profits from successful trades.
According to the SEC, the two traders carried out a scheme in which they would use multiple accounts at various brokerage firms to buy a position in a stock, use a second account to place a small series of buy orders that drove up the price of the stock, then sold the first account’s position into the market at an inflated price.
The SEC charged the two traders with violating and aiding and abetting violations of the anti-fraud provisions of the securities laws.
“As alleged in our complaint, Taub and Shmalo schemed dozens of times per trading day to artificially move stock prices for their personal benefit,” said Andrew M. Calamari, director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office.
Michael Ellis, Janna Berke and Wendy Tepperman in the New York office are handling the case for the SEC.