Upton man sentenced for stock market manipulation conspiracy
An Upton man has been sentenced to 30 days in prison and ordered to relinquish over $1 million. The reason? His involvement in a market manipulation conspiracy that impacted US financial exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, according to authorities.
Xiaosong Wang, 36, will be required to forfeit $1,041,084 in illicit gains and will face deportation to China once his prison term is completed, as per the US attorney’s office in Massachusetts. Wang admitted guilt to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud back on September 12.
Between 2013 and 2018, Wang and his partners, including Jiali Wang, participated in a manipulative trading scheme with a group of traders in China and Massachusetts. They utilized multiple brokerage accounts under their names and those of individuals they were associated with to artificially influence the prices of thinly traded securities.
Their strategy involved placing small buy or sell orders to give false signals about a security’s supply or demand, causing price shifts. They would then execute opposing large orders to take advantage of these manipulations on multiple occasions before canceling the misleading orders.
Jiali Wang, another conspirator, had previously pled guilty and received a sentence of three months in prison and nine months of home detention in December 2022. Wang was also instructed to surrender $7.75 million in illicit gains and face deportation to China.
For further inquiries, please contact Kiera McDonald at [email protected].
