Individual Indicted for Market Manipulation Conspiracy

BOSTON – A Chinese national and part-time Weymouth resident has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston for his alleged participation in a sophisticated, multi-year market manipulation conspiracy involving securities traded on the United States’ national securities exchanges.

Jiali Wang, 43, was indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit market manipulation. Wang was previously charged by criminal complaint.

According to the charging documents, from approximately 2013 through at least 2018, Wang participated in and oversaw the manipulative trading activity of a group of securities traders located in China and, at times, in Massachusetts. Specifically, it is alleged that Wang and his co-conspirators used multiple brokerage accounts in their names, and in the names of others with whom Wang had a relationship, to artificially depress and inflate the prices of thinly traded securities. They allegedly did so by repeatedly placing relatively small sell (or buy) orders designed to send a false signal about a security’s supply (or demand) and to depress (or inflate) the security’s price. It is alleged that Wang and his co-conspirators then immediately placed relatively large buy (or sell) orders on the other side of the market to take advantage of their manipulations. Once the large orders executed, Wang and his co-conspirators allegedly cancelled their outstanding manipulative orders.

The charge of conspiracy to commit securities fraud provides for a sentence of up to 25 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. The charge of conspiracy to commit market manipulation provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney James R. Drabick of Rollins’ Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.