Gerald Cocuzzo, Securities Fraud, New York 2024

BROOKLYN, NY — Gerald Cocuzzo, a 38-year-old broker from Delray Beach, Florida, stood before a federal judge today and admitted his role in a $131 million securities fraud scheme that propped up the stock of ForceField Energy Inc. (FNRG), a shell company peddling false promises of LED lighting dominance. The plea, entered before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ramon E. Reyes, Jr., marks a pivotal moment in a years-long investigation into one of the most brazen stock manipulation rings to hit the NASDAQ in recent memory.

Cocuzzo, a registered broker with both the SEC and FINRA, admitted to helping orchestrate a years-long fraud between January 2009 and April 2015, during which he and co-conspirators artificially inflated ForceField’s share price through phantom trading, undisclosed nominee accounts, and secret kickbacks. The scheme created a false illusion of market demand, luring unsuspecting investors into a collapsing stock. The fallout: approximately $131 million in losses to the public — money that vanished into offshore accounts, cash payouts, and luxury lifestyles.

Among the most damning revelations: Cocuzzo accepted commission payments — outright kickbacks — from a ForceField executive in early 2015 in exchange for buying the stock in his clients’ brokerage accounts. He never told those clients. He didn’t disclose the conflict. He simply moved the stock, fueled the bubble, and took his cut. His participation wasn’t passive; it was predatory, targeting average investors who trusted their brokers to act in their best interest.

To hide their crimes, Cocuzzo and his co-conspirators used prepaid burner phones and encrypted messaging apps that erased content after delivery. Payments were often made in cash, passed hand-to-hand to avoid digital trails. These weren’t amateur moves — this was a calculated, cold-blooded operation designed to exploit regulatory blind spots and investor trust. The use of FINRA-registered brokers like Cocuzzo gave the fraud an air of legitimacy it never deserved.

The case is being handled by the Eastern District of New York’s Business and Securities Fraud Section, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark E. Bini and Lauren H. Elbert leading the prosecution. The charges stem from the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, a sweeping interagency coalition formed to combat white-collar crime. Since 2009, the task force has prosecuted over 18,000 financial fraud cases — but few as tightly woven as this.

Cocuzzo now faces up to 20 years in federal prison, along with restitution, criminal forfeiture, and steep financial penalties. He remains free pending sentencing. The case, docketed as E.D.N.Y. No. 16-CR-234 (BMC), continues to unfold as prosecutors assess the full network behind the ForceField scam. For now, Cocuzzo’s guilty plea stands as a warning: even in the shadowy world of stock manipulation, the feds are watching — and they’re closing in.