A securities trader has been sentenced for participating in a market manipulation conspiracy involving U.S. exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. Xiaosong Wang, 36, from Upton, Massachusetts, received a 30-day prison sentence from U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young. He was also ordered to forfeit $1,041,084 in illicit proceeds and will be removed to China after serving his sentence. Wang had pleaded guilty on September 12, 2024, to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
The manipulative trading activities took place between approximately 2013 and 2018. Wang collaborated with a group of traders based in China and occasionally in Massachusetts. The group used several brokerage accounts under their own names and those of others connected to them to manipulate the prices of thinly traded securities by placing small sell or buy orders to mislead about supply or demand and alter security prices artificially. They then placed larger buy or sell orders on the opposite side of the market to exploit these manipulations before canceling their initial orders.
Another conspirator, Jiali Wang, pleaded guilty in August 2022 and was sentenced in December 2022 to time served—three months in prison—and nine months of home detention. Jiali Wang was also ordered to forfeit $7.75 million in illicit gains and subsequently ordered removed to China.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy along with Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Boston Division. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James R. Drabick from the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit.