This post is late — the arrests came almost two months ago. This is a very complicated case with many people in many countries.
I have written previously about the spam promoter ‘StockCastle’ (one of their first domains was StockCastle.com but they used dozens of other names). During their prime, StockCastle moved stocks and brought good volume. I have not received any promotional emails from any of their websites since early 2014. In fact, their two most recent stock promotions ended with the SEC suspending trading in the stocks. Nevada Gold Corp (NVGC) was suspended on November 27, 2013. StockCastle’s next pump was Imogo Mobile Technologies (IMTC) in February 2014. On February 19th, 2014 the SEC suspended trading in IMTC.
Below are links to a bunch of stories about the arrests and the SEC case:
SEC press release about civil charges against Gery Shalon, Joshua Aaron, and Ziv Orenstein
SEC complaint (PDF)
Criminal complaint (PDF) against Gery Shalon, Joshua Aaron, and Ziv Orenstein
Interestingly, neither NVGC nor IMTC was mentioned in the SEC’s complaint, despite both having been suspended by the SEC.
New York Times Dealbook: 4 Arrested in schemes said to be tied to JP Morgan breach
Reuters: Israelis sought in U.S. securities fraud remanded until Aug. 10
Jerusalem Post: Two Israelis facing extradition to US for ‘pump and dump’ scam ordered kept in custody
Bloomberg: Digital Misfits Link JPMorgan Hack to Pump-and-Dump Fraud
Nodummy review of StockCastle pumps mentioned in litigation (and follow-up post)
Disclaimer: I have no relationship with any parties mentioned above. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.