Four Houston-area men were among eight social media influencers accused Wednesday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of using Twitter, online chat rooms and a podcast to manipulate stock prices in a $100 million trading scam.
According to a civil action filed by the SEC in federal court in Houston, the eight defendants conspired to promote stocks via social media, then dumped shares they’d purchased once their promotional efforts drove up the stocks’ prices.
“To their legions of followers on social media, the eight defendants have, for years, promoted themselves as trustworthy stock-picking gurus. In reality, they are seasoned stock manipulators,” the SEC complaint said.
“They identify stocks ripe for manipulation, acquire substantial positions in these securities, and then recommend those stocks as good investments… They encourage their followers to purchase the selected stocks, often claiming that they likewise have bought or intend to buy these stocks for themselves and hold them. Instead, the defendants sell their shares into the demand that their deceptive promotions generate.”
The defendants, who are also named in a parallel criminal complaint filed under seal last week in federal court in Houston, are Daniel Knight of Houston; Edward Constantin, identified in the civil suit as a Houston resident, but in a request by the government for issuance of a summons as living in Montgomery; Perry Matlock of…
