A Virginia man, Robert Walter Murray, has been arrested and charged with a $100 million market manipulation scheme involving Fitbit stock in a Manhattan federal court.
According to the allegations, Murray filed a sham tender offer with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on November 9, 2016, claiming that a China-based entity, ABM Capital, had offered to purchase Fitbit for approximately $12.50 a share, a significant premium to the price of Fitbit stock at the time.
The filing was entirely fictitious, and Murray had not actually received a tender offer from ABM Capital. The SEC said that the sham tender offer resulted in a manipulation of the market by over $100 million.
Murray used a different name, purporting to be an officer at ABM Capital, and created a separate email account to register with the SEC and file the sham tender offer. He also took steps to hide his connection to the tender offer filing, including disguising his actual IP address when accessing the email account.
Murray bought call options for Fitbit stock on or about November 9, 2016, and sold his options the following day, profiting from the manipulation of the market.
The SEC filed civil charges against Murray in a separate action.
Robert Walter Murray, Securities and Wire Fraud, New York, November 9, 2016. The case is ongoing.
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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