SEC Charges Financial Advisor in Market Manipulation Case

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced additional fraud charges in a market manipulation case the agency filed last week.

The SEC amended its complaint to additionally name Donald Toomer Jr., a Las Vegas-based financial advisor who allegedly agreed to buy shares of three microcap stocks in client accounts in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash kickbacks.   

In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced criminal charges against Toomer.

“We allege that Toomer abused his role as a financial advisor to help create the false appearance of market demand in these stocks and facilitate the pump-and-dump scheme,” said Andrew M. Calamari, Regional Director of the SEC’s New York office. 

The SEC’s amended complaint charges Toomer with violations of the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and seeks a permanent injunction, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest and a penalty, and a penny stock bar.

The SEC’s continuing investigation is being conducted by Rhonda L. Jung, Teresa A. Rodriguez, Melissa Coppola, Nancy A. Brown, Adam S. Grace, and Wendy B. Tepperman of the New York office.  The SEC’s litigation is being led by Ms. Brown and the case is being supervised by Lara Shalov Mehraban.  The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s Office of Fraud Detection and Market Intelligence.