The Canadian alleged to be the mastermind behind a $140M penny stock fraud and his co-conspirator have been arrested in Thailand and are facing extradition to the US.
The Canadian said to be behind a $140M penny stock fraud and his co-conspirator have been arrested in Thailand and are facing extradition to the US for trial.
Sandy Winick, whom authorities allege masterminded fraudulent schemes across at least 35 countries, was arrested in Bangkok along with fellow Canadian co-conspirator Gregory Curry. The indictment and arrests were announced by Loretta Lynch, US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and George Venizelos, assistant director-in-charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office.
“The defendants Sandy Winick and Gregory Curry used our securities markets as a platform from which to run elaborate fraudulent schemes to victimize tens of thousands of unsuspecting investors across the globe,” said Lynch.
Winick is charged as the lead defendant in two separate but interrelated schemes. According to the indictment, the defendants first engaged in an international ‘pump and dump’ scheme during which they fraudulently ‘pumped up’ the share price of worthless penny stocks and then ‘dumped’ billions of shares of those stocks by unloading them on unsuspecting victim investors across the globe.
To uncover the international aspects of the scheme and gather evidence, the FBI used wiretaps in the US and undercover agents in foreign countries.
These arrests mark the latest successful chapter in an effort to address fraud in the over the counter securities markets. On August 13, the FBI arrested six men in New York, Arizona, New Jersey, Florida and California, while the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrested a seventh man on a provisional arrest warrant in Ontario, for engaging in this same international fraud conspiracy that spanned the globe from North America to Europe and Asia.
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Winick has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 15 counts of wire fraud, four counts of securities fraud and two counts of false personation of an officer of the US. Curry has been charged with: one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, five counts of wire fraud and two counts of false personation of an officer of the US.
If convicted, Winick and Curry will face up to 20 years’ imprisonment for each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, substantive wire fraud and substantive securities fraud, and up to five years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
Winick and Curry face up to three years in prison for each count of false personation of an officer of the US. In addition, all proceeds of fraudulent schemes are subject to forfeiture. Now that they have been arrested, Winick and Curry face extradition proceedings from Thailand to the US.
