Jared Mitchell, Securities Fraud, New York 2016

Investor relations professional Jared Mitchell, 34, of New York, and registered broker Maroof Miyana, 36, of Boca Raton, Florida, pleaded guilty to securities fraud in connection with a $131 million market manipulation scheme involving ForceField Energy Inc. (ForceField), a publicly-traded company listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “FNRG.”

The guilty pleas were each entered before United States Magistrate Judge Ramon E. Reyes, Jr. at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York. When sentenced, Mitchell and Miyana each face up to 20 years in prison, as well as restitution, criminal forfeiture, and a fine.

According to court filings and facts presented at the plea hearings, between January 2009 and April 2015, the defendants, together with others, engaged in a scheme to defraud investors in ForceField by artificially controlling the price and volume of traded shares of ForceField through, among other means: (1) using nominees to purchase and sell ForceField stock without disclosing this information to investors and potential investors; (2) orchestrating the trading of ForceField stock to create the appearance of genuine trading volume and interest in the stock; and (3) concealing payments to stock promoters and broker dealers who promoted and sold ForceField stock to investors and potential investors while claiming to be independent of the company.

The defendants’ fraudulent scheme caused a loss of approximately $131 million to the investing public.

Between October 2014 and April 2015, a ForceField executive paid commission payments, or kickbacks, to Mitchell in exchange for the registered broker defendants’ purchasing ForceField stock in their clients’ brokerage accounts; Mitchell would distribute a portion of the kickbacks to the registered brokers, including Miyana, and keep a portion of the kickback for himself.

The registered broker defendants did not disclose to their clients the kickbacks they were receiving for purchasing ForceField stock.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Business and Securities Fraud Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Mark E. Bini and Lauren H. Elbert are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges were brought in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.

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