Financial Fraud: Michael Watts Convicted For Illegal Stock Promotion And Manipulation Scheme

<h2>Corporate Insider Convicted of Conspiring with Others at Long Island Boiler Room to Pump and Dump Stock on Unsuspecting Elderly Investors<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p><strong>Illegal Stock Promotion and Manipulation Scheme Cost Victims Million of Dollars<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mh-content-ad"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js&quest;client&equals;ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; crossorigin&equals;"anonymous"><&sol;script>&NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle"&NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;"&NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article"&NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid"&NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1081854981"><&sol;ins>&NewLine;<script>&NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>A federal jury in Central Islip returned a guilty verdict on all counts this afternoon against Michael Watts&comma; a former registered broker&comma; for his role in a conspiracy to promote and manipulate the price of shares in Hydrocarb Energy Corp&period; &lpar;Hydrocarb&rpar; and other companies&period; Specifically&comma; Watts was convicted of conspiracy to commit securities fraud&comma; securities fraud&comma; conspiracy to commit wire fraud&comma; money laundering conspiracy and money laundering&period; The verdict followed a three-week trial before United States District Judge Joanna Seybert&period; When sentenced&comma; Watts faces a maximum sentence of more than 20 years’ imprisonment&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Richard P&period; Donoghue&comma; United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York&comma; announced the verdict&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;With today’s verdict&comma; the jury has delivered a measure of closure to the victims&comma; many of them elderly and vulnerable&comma; who were preyed upon by Watts and his co-conspirators&comma;” stated United States Attorney Donoghue&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The defendant will face another reckoning when he is sentenced for his crimes&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As proven at trial&comma; from 2014 to 2016&comma; Watts and his co-conspirators at a Melville-based boiler room artificially inflated the price and trading volume of Hydrocarb stock&period; They did so through an illegal cold-calling campaign that used lies and high-pressure sales tactics to lure victim investors&comma; including many elderly victims&comma; into purchasing stock&period; Watts&comma; who was one of the largest shareholders in Hydrocarb and knew that the business was failing&comma; also used the boiler room to dump more than &dollar;2 million worth of Hydrocarb shares that he owned or controlled on unsuspecting investors in the months leading to the company’s April 2016 bankruptcy&period; The government has alleged that the conspiracy’s market manipulation fraudulently inflated the stock price of Hydrocarb and four other companies by more than &dollar;147 million&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Watts is the 13th defendant convicted in this case&period; Three others are scheduled for trial in January 2020&period; Four defendants have been sentenced for their roles in the scheme&colon; Ronald Hardy was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment&semi; Dennis Verderosa was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment&semi; McArthur Jean was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment&semi; and Emin Cohen was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>United States Attorney Donoghue thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation&comma; New York Field Office&comma; for its hard work and dedication in leading the investigation&comma; and expressed his appreciation to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the <a class&equals;"wpil&lowbar;keyword&lowbar;link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;tag&sol;financial-fraud&sol;amp&sol;" title&equals;"Financial" data-wpil-keyword-link&equals;"linked" data-wpil-monitor-id&equals;"945">Financial<&sol;a> Industry Regulatory Authority&comma; Inc&period;&comma; Criminal Prosecution Assistance Group for their cooperation and assistance&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Business and Securities Fraud Section&period; Assistant United States Attorneys Whitman G&period;S&period; Knapp and Kaitlin T&period; Farrell are in charge of the prosecution&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Defendant&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>MICHAEL WATTS<br &sol;>&NewLine;Age&colon; 63<br &sol;>&NewLine;Sugarland&comma; Texas<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Commodities FraudElder FraudElder JusticeInvestment Fraud