William Lieberman, Stock Pump and Dump Scheme, Connecticut 2023

Boca Raton resident William Lieberman, 42, was sentenced to 84 months in prison for his role in a securities fraud scheme that left over 12,000 investors with nearly $19 million in losses.

According to court documents, Lieberman conspired with others, including Christian Meissenn of Connecticut, to defraud investors through a stock ‘pump and dump’ scheme between 2010 and July 2016.

Lieberman and his co-conspirators induced investors to purchase securities by making false and misleading representations in calls, emails, and press releases, causing the price of those securities to become falsely inflated.

The issuing companies included Terra Energy Resources Ltd., Mammoth Energy Group, Inc., Trilliant Exploration Corporation, Hermes Jets, Inc., Dolat Ventures, Inc., and Fox Petroleum, Inc.

Lieberman served as the CEO, Chairman of the Board, President, Secretary, and Treasurer of various issuing companies and issued false and misleading press releases concerning their financial health and prospects.

He also arranged for attorneys to sign false and misleading opinion letters that were designed to provide assurances to securities transfer agents and prospective investors.

Lieberman earned nearly $1.2 million through the scheme and failed to report this income to the IRS, evading $436,235 in federal income taxes for the 2011 through 2015 tax years.

On May 10, 2017, Lieberman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and one count of tax evasion.

Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer ordered Lieberman to pay $5,301,694 in restitution to the victims of the fraud scheme and $436,235 to the IRS.

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