2023-02-16 sec-litreleases litigation_release 65 KB 2,044 chars

SEC v. Milan Patel, No. LR-25641, Northern District of Georgia (Feb. 16, 2023) — Press Release

raw: Milan Patel

Milan Patel, No. 2:23-cv-00026-RWS (Feb. 16, 2023)

Caption
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Milan Patel
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summary

The SEC charged Milan Patel for spreading over 100 false rumors about public companies to generate more than $1 million in illicit trading profits.

paragraph

Milan Patel is charged with disseminating false rumors regarding corporate mergers and acquisitions to manipulate stock prices between December 2017 and January 2020. The scheme resulted in over $1 million in illicit trading profits through the temporary inflation of security prices. Patel faces charges for violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

narrative

The SEC has charged Milan Patel for his role in a multi-million dollar scheme involving the dissemination of more than 100 false rumors about public companies. Between December 2017 and January 2020, Patel received false information regarding purported mergers and acquisitions from co-conspirators Barton Ross, Anthony Salandra, and Charles Parrino. He spread these rumors through financial news services, chat rooms, message boards, and a stock trading webcast hosted by Mark Melnick. This manipulation caused temporary price increases in the subject companies' securities, allowing Patel to generate over $1 million in illicit trading profits. The SEC's complaint, filed in the Northern District of Georgia, alleges violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act. The investigation was supported by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia.

Enriched metadata

Scheme
market-manipulation (95%)
Court
Northern District of Georgia
Case No.
2:23-cv-00026-RWS
Victim loss
$1,000,000
Entity
Milan Vinod Patel
Classified market-manipulation(confidence 95%). EDGAR detection: forms SC 13D/G/13F· recall 53% / precision 9%. detection rule →
Statutes
Section 17(a) of the Securities ActSection 10(b) of the Securities Exchange ActRule 10b-5
Parties
Securities and Exchange CommissionMilan Patel
Keywords
patelrumorssecuritiesmilan patelsecurities exchangemilansecsec'sfalse rumorsrumors aboutabout publicpublic companiesexchange commissioncommission milangenerate million

Exhibits & Attached Documents (1)

Extracted insights

Dollar amounts 1
  • $1.00M $1 million $1M–$10M
Entities 8
  • person barton ross
  • person damon taaffe
  • person deborah tarasevich
  • person james carlson
  • person martin zerwitz
  • person milan vinod patel
  • agency Securities and Exchange Commission
  • organization Securities and Exchange Commission
Triples 13
  • Milan Vinod Patel charged spreading false rumors
  • Securities And Exchange Commission charged Milan Vinod Patel
  • Milan Vinod Patel received false rumors from Barton Ross
  • Milan Vinod Patel disseminated false rumors to financial news services
  • Barton Ross provided false rumors to Milan Vinod Patel
  • Milan Vinod Patel generated $1 million in illicit trading profits
  • Securities And Exchange Commission filed complaint against Milan Vinod Patel
  • Martin Zerwitz conducted investigation
  • Deborah Tarasevich supervised investigation
  • Damon Taaffe led litigation
  • James Carlson supervised litigation
  • Securities And Exchange Commission appreciates assistance from U.S. Attorney's Office
  • FBI assisted Securities And Exchange Commission
PDF (from attached: complaint)
laintiff Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) files this Complaint · Source
Text layers
Extracted body text (2,044c) 
SEC Charges Final Participant in Multi-Million Dollar Scheme to Spread and Trade On False Rumors About Public Companies Litigation Release No. 25641 / February 16, 2023 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Milan Patel, Civil Action No. 2:23-cv-00026-RWS (N.D. Ga. filed Feb. 16, 2023) The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Milan Vinod Patel, of Cumming, Georgia, for spreading more than 100 false rumors about public companies to generate more than $1 million in illicit trading profits. The SEC previously charged Barton Ross, Mark Melnick, Anthony Salandra, and Charles Parrino for their roles in this scheme. According to the SEC's complaint, Patel received rumors that he knew to be false from Ross, Salandra, or Parrino about purported market-moving events, such as corporate mergers or acquisitions, involving publicly-traded companies, and disseminated the rumors to his contacts at financial news services, chat rooms, and message boards. Patel also disseminated the rumors to Melnick, a host of a stock trading webcast, who shared them with his webcast subscribers. The circulation of more than 100 rumors between December 2017 and January 2020 caused the prices of the subject companies' securities to rise temporarily, which allowed Patel to sell his holdings in such securities and generate more than $1 million in illicit trading profits. The SEC's complaint, filed in the United Stated District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, charges Patel with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Martin Zerwitz of the Enforcement Division's Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit and Jonathan Austin. It was supervised by Deborah Tarasevich, David Hirsch, and Mr. Sansone. The SEC's litigation will be led by Damon Taaffe and supervised by James Carlson. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia and the FBI. SEC Complaint
OCR text (2,044c · html-text · 99% conf) 
SEC Charges Final Participant in Multi-Million Dollar Scheme to Spread and Trade On False Rumors About Public Companies Litigation Release No. 25641 / February 16, 2023 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Milan Patel, Civil Action No. 2:23-cv-00026-RWS (N.D. Ga. filed Feb. 16, 2023) The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Milan Vinod Patel, of Cumming, Georgia, for spreading more than 100 false rumors about public companies to generate more than $1 million in illicit trading profits. The SEC previously charged Barton Ross, Mark Melnick, Anthony Salandra, and Charles Parrino for their roles in this scheme. According to the SEC's complaint, Patel received rumors that he knew to be false from Ross, Salandra, or Parrino about purported market-moving events, such as corporate mergers or acquisitions, involving publicly-traded companies, and disseminated the rumors to his contacts at financial news services, chat rooms, and message boards. Patel also disseminated the rumors to Melnick, a host of a stock trading webcast, who shared them with his webcast subscribers. The circulation of more than 100 rumors between December 2017 and January 2020 caused the prices of the subject companies' securities to rise temporarily, which allowed Patel to sell his holdings in such securities and generate more than $1 million in illicit trading profits. The SEC's complaint, filed in the United Stated District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, charges Patel with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC's investigation was conducted by Martin Zerwitz of the Enforcement Division's Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit and Jonathan Austin. It was supervised by Deborah Tarasevich, David Hirsch, and Mr. Sansone. The SEC's litigation will be led by Damon Taaffe and supervised by James Carlson. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia and the FBI. SEC Complaint

Related documents (1)