A group of Australians who led a pump and dump scheme on messaging application Telegram have pled guilty to charges brought against them by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
The Aussie regulator brought the case against Larissa Quinlan, Kurt Stuart, Emma Summer and Syed Yusuf for market rigging and dealing with the proceeds of crime.
The four defendants set up a Telegram group which they would use to target different penny stocks trading on the Australian Securities Exchange.
On a private channel, they agreed which stocks to target, and would then buy them themselves. After that, they’d then announce to a public group to buy the stocks, which would push the price up, allowing them to cash in.
According to a statement published by ASIC, the groups were called ‘ASX Pump and Dump Group’ and the ‘ASX Pump and Dump Channel.’ Hard to make a defence against that.
Larissa Quinlan, Kurt Stuart, Emma Summer and Syed Yusuf all pled guilty to the charges. They face prison time of up to 15 years and a fine of $1m.
“ASIC takes breaches of the market manipulation rules very seriously and as demonstrated in this matter, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action where appropriate,” said ASIC Chair Joe Longo.
