en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump_and_dump
2 corrections found
In 2005, Spear & Jackson and International Media Solutions were fined over $8 million, and its two executive officers, Kermit J. Silva and Yolanda Velazquez, each paid an additional $420,000 out of their personal accounts.
The SEC’s 2005 orders did not fine Spear & Jackson over $8 million, and Yolanda Velazquez’s payment was over $435,000, not $420,000.
Full reasoning
This sentence mixes together several SEC sanctions in a way that changes who paid what.
According to the SEC’s February 10, 2005 litigation release:
- Dennis Crowley was ordered to pay more than $6.1 million.
- International Media Solutions (IMS) was ordered to pay about $2.03 million.
- Yolanda Velazquez was ordered to pay more than $435,000.
- Spear & Jackson itself was described as agreeing to a permanent injunction; the release does not say the company was ordered to pay a monetary fine in that settlement.
The article’s phrasing therefore incorrectly assigns the “over $8 million” figure to Spear & Jackson and IMS, when the large monetary sanction was primarily against Crowley plus IMS. It also says Velazquez paid $420,000, but the SEC states her total was more than $435,000.
A separate SEC release from October 5, 2005 shows that Kermit Silva was ordered to pay $336,307 in disgorgement, $23,952 in prejudgment interest, and a $60,000 civil penalty—about $420,259 total. So the “about $420,000” figure matches Silva, not Velazquez.
2 sources
- SEC.gov | Spear & Jackson, Inc., et al.
Crowley will be ordered to pay ... more than $6.1 million, IMS will be ordered to pay disgorgement of approximately $2 million, and Velazquez will be ordered to pay ... more than $435,000. ... Spear & Jackson has agreed to the entry of an order permanently enjoining it...
- SEC.gov | Spear & Jackson, Inc.
The final judgment orders Silva to pay $336,307 in disgorgement, plus prejudgment interest of $23,952, and a $60,000 civil penalty.
In April 2018, Morrie Tobin and others, using offshore accounts, gained over $165 million from a pump-and-dump scheme.
The SEC attributes the “more than $165 million” figure to a broader Knox/Wintercap scheme, not to Tobin’s own stock-manipulation scheme.
Full reasoning
The SEC’s own description of the case does not say Morrie Tobin’s scheme generated more than $165 million. In its 2021 litigation release, the SEC says Tobin “secretly controlled and owned substantially all of the stock in two public companies” and organized a scheme involving those two companies. The same release then separately says that Roger Knox and Wintercap SA were charged in a different, broader scheme that generated more than $165 million of illegal sales of stock in at least 50 microcap companies, including Tobin-related companies.
The Department of Justice likewise described Tobin’s criminal case as a scheme that “sought to generate $15 million in fraudulent proceeds,” not $165 million.
So the article incorrectly assigns the broader $165 million figure to Tobin and others, when official sources attribute that number to the wider Knox/Wintercap operation.
2 sources
- SEC.gov | Morrie Tobin et al.
According to the SEC's complaint, Morrie Tobin ... secretly controlled and owned substantially all of the stock in two public companies... On October 2, 2018, the SEC filed an emergency action ... against Knox and Wintercap SA, charging them with a scheme that generated more than $165 million of illegal sales of stock in at least 50 microcap companies.
- District of Massachusetts | Canadian National Sentenced for Securities Fraud | United States Department of Justice
Morrie Tobin ... was sentenced ... for his role in a massive global securities fraud scheme that sought to generate $15 million in fraudulent proceeds.