ST. PAUL — Two Minnesota men and a third from New York have been charged in federal court for committing fraud through a pump-and-dump scheme, Acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota W. Anders Folk announced Monday, June 21.
Saeid Jaberian, 59, of Hopkins, Mark Miller, 43, of Breezy Point, and Christopher Rajkaran, 35, of New York, devised a plan to acquire large amounts of stock in dormant public shell companies that traded over-the-counter at low prices, often less that 1 cent per share, according to a recently unsealed indictment.
The men allegedly assumed control over the shell companies by creating and filing fake letters and board resolutions announcing the resignation of the existing management team. They would then appoint themselves as new officers of the companies, the indictment said.
The trio also are accused of using their control over the companies to issue fraudulent press releases designed to inflate the price of the company’s stock. Once the stock increased in value, they sold it at inflated prices to unwitting investors, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Minnesota.
The scheme is called a pump-and-dump because stocks are manipulated to appear pumped up and then dumped or sold for more than they’re worth.
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The 15-count indictment charges all three men with wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
Rajkaran was arrested Friday in New York. Miller and Jaberian will make their initial court appearances before Magistrate Judge Hildy Bowbeer in St. Paul.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the FBI.
