May 24, 2016

The SEC obtained a court order to freeze the profits of Nauman A. Aly, a trader in Pakistan, who allegedly made more than $425,000 in profits by manipulating a technology stock through false company filings.  The SEC alleges that Aly filed a form 13D on the SEC’s Edgar system falsely stating that his group of investors had purchased a 5.1% beneficial ownership of Silicon Valley-based Integrated Device Technology (IDT) and had offered to acquire all of the company’s shares for a price that represented a 65 percent premium.  The market reacted quickly to the filing and IDT’s stock price increased by more than 25% in less than 10 minutes.  Aly then sold all of his IDT call options for an illicit profit of more than $425,000.  The asset freeze ensures that Aly cannot withdraw the $425,000 from his U.S.-based account.  SEC

Tagged in: Market Manipulation and Trading Violations, Securities Fraud,