Massive in-Securities

More than 100 defendants have been charged with securities fraud in the largest action in US history. The proceedings, announced jointly by the US attorney, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the FBI in mid-June, are the culmination of a 10-month investigation, code-named “Uptick”, into an alleged five-year nationwide Internet microcap manipulation scheme involving controlled trades of large blocks of thinly traded stocks. The sum defrauded is believed to exceed US$50 million. It is the first case to demonstrate large scale intervention in the securities markets by organised crime families; 11 individuals connected with five separate US criminal groups face charges that include multiple manipulation of microcaps, extortion, money laundering, bribery, interference with witnesses and soliciting murder.