Criminal Prosecution, Fraud, Securities Exchange Act

Reversals of Fraud Charges Highlight Difficulties in Bringing Market Manipulation Cases

WilmerHale on 8/5/2025

Establishing that criminal defendants engaged in market manipulation is extremely difficult, often due to the difficulty in establishing that the defendant created prices that did not reflect legitimate sources of supply or...more

Heart to Heart: SEC and USAO File Parallel Feb. 14 Enforcement Actions

Holland & Knight LLP on 2/23/2023

Enforcement was in the air this Valentine's Day for the New York and Forth Worth Regional offices of the SEC, who on Feb. 14, 2023, announced charges against Christopher S. Kirchner – the former CEO of supply chain logistics...more

Federal Fraud Statutes - Not A Short Cut to Proving Insider Trading

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on 1/27/2021

The question of what constitutes insider trading has been litigated for decades. Many thought that a series of Supreme Court cases such as Dirks v. SEC, 462 U.S. 646 (1983) and its progeny had largely resolved the question...more

2019 Bad Guys in Energy

Gray Reed on 1/16/2020

To our bad guys, 2019 was a year flush with hope and opportunity; it ended with recidivism, more misery from Venezuela, a charlatan, an Okie who pulled a multi-million dollar fast-one on Chesapeake and, as in years past, a...more

Woodbridge Trustee Seeks Relief In California's Corporate Securities Law

Allen Matkins on 12/5/2019

On Monday, the trustee of the Woodbridge Liquidation Trust filed a lawsuit against numerous law firms and lawyers. The trustee's lawsuit relates to the reportedly $1.3 billion Ponzi scheme allegedly orchestrated by Robert H....more

SEC Charges Three For Six Microcap Fraud Manipulations

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on 7/23/2015

Microcap fraud has been a priority of SEC Enforcement since at least the formation of the Microcap Task Force about two years ago. The Commission has brought a series of cases focused largely on pump-and-dump schemes....more