Robert Walter Murray, 25, of Chesapeake, Virginia, is headed to federal prison for cooking up a bogus takeover bid to pump up Fitbit stock and cash in on options. The scheme, built on a lie filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, triggered a temporary $100 million spike in market value—pure smoke and mirrors designed to line Murray’s pockets.
Murray was sentenced to 24 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest in Manhattan after pleading guilty on November 7, 2017. Prosecutors say he created a fake account on the SEC’s EDGAR system, posing as an officer of a China-based shell entity called ABM Capital. On November 9, 2016, he filed a fraudulent tender offer claiming ABM would buy Fitbit shares at $12.50 each—well above the $8.55 closing price the day before.
The filing went public on November 10, 2016, and Fitbit’s stock surged to $9.27 amid a spike in trading volume. That artificial pop—brief but real—allowed Murray to profit from call options he’d purchased days earlier. The entire offer was fiction. No money, no buyer, no deal. Just a digital ghost designed to fool the market.
Murray didn’t just file false documents—he went dark to cover his tracks. He created a separate email account, masked his IP address, and used digital stealth to avoid detection. But federal investigators followed the digital breadcrumbs back to his doorstep. The sham fell apart fast once regulators realized ABM Capital didn’t exist in any meaningful form.
In addition to prison, Murray was slapped with two years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $3,914.08—the exact amount he gained through the fraud. The sentence sends a message: even small-time Wall Street grifters face hard time when they weaponize public filings to rig the game.
The case was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Allen led the prosecution. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the SEC provided critical support, with U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman hailing the collaboration that brought Murray down.
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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