Group of Financial Influencers BUSTED in Massive Fraud Scheme

"If you have ever heard the words “this is not financial advice” or “this is not stock advice” when scrolling through TikTok or YouTube, you can be sure the next several minutes will be devoted to doing exactly that. Now federal law enforcement alleged that several financial influencers followed by hundreds of thousands of would-be traders were using their fans to bet big on stock trades, all the while expecting to cash out before prices tanked.

In an unsealed 44-page indictment filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, a grand jury charged eight financial influencers in a large-scale securities fraud conspiracy that racked up over $114 million over a little less than two years. The U.S. Department of Justice alleged these influencers went by handles like “PJ Matlock” AKA Perry Matlock, “DipDeity” AKA Daniel Knight, and “LadeBackk” AKA Stefan Hrvatin. Federal law enforcement said all of these accounts hyped up certain companies by posting false info to their thousands of followers on Discord and Twitter and through podcast appearances, all while planning to dump their shares when the stock price became inflated.

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[DavidRichardson]

Next up: Republicans propose bill to legalize pump-n'-dump schemes, and Manchin and Sinema back said bill after "influencers" "donate" to their campaigns.

[donaldgrimshaw]

It’s staggering the amount of white collar crime that goes unpunished. 🤬

[jakublizon]

I'm getting a bit tired of human greed. I seriously don't know how you can financially ruin someone, almost surely ruining their whole life as well, and be able to sleep at night.

[downhilltwofour]

We need to see some serious punishment come down on these people with a lot of public reporting by the Government at the same time.

[rayleblanc]

Lets not forget about Bret Favre. The rich football player stealing Mississippi welfare funds.

[TomEdward]

Sadly, Cenk is right - it's all too easy to believe that there are no longer any rules governing the finance industry. On a related note, I am continually appalled by the number of people who devote their lives to acquiring large sums of money while providing little to no substantive contribution to society in return. Meanwhile, the railway workers, whose labor is of vital importance to society, can't get a reasonable amount of paid sick leave.

[gregeoryl]

But big ones always walk free. My CEO sent an email out corporate wide, bragging about profits and encouraging everyone to put their 401k money into company stock. That week he dumped millions, a few days later released the company statement that we lost money, then bought his stocks back for half price. No laws broken, except non disclosure, insider trading, stock market manipulation and fraud.

[notchomomma]

Let's not act like this was some massive victory for the people, this is just the old money letting the new money know they don't like competition.

[j.d.]

There are so many scummy "influencers" getting away with all sorts of crimes.

[ianreed]

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."

Honore de Balzac

[ashtonturner]

It amazes me when people are stupid enough to conduct illegal business on social media or on the internet in general. Never leave a paper trail.

[michelleschultz]

If everybody followed this story to its conclusion we'll probably find out that 4 years from now these guys got 2 months in jail and a $10, 000 fine. $114 million over two years? Seems like the punishments NEVER seem to fit the crimes when it comes to financial scams like this.

[theowl]

There is a reason why the Organized Crime views the rest of the society, especially the government, as Disorganized Crime.

[bluesmokegamer]

They're going to learn a whole new meaning to "pump and dump" in prison

[cindylewis]

Why would anyone take financial advice from financial influencers? Social media is a sewer of criminals

[wayneraisch]

Thanks for the good show again Young Turks. Happy Holidays to you two.

[nikinnorway]

This is why when people ask me for advice, I say "Just buy index funds and wait." Stop trying to find the next big stock - unless you are an expert in the field (the actual technical field), you're not gonna find it.

[Paul_Wetor]

My father bought some gold at its peak in the 1970s. After that I figured out that by the time the average person on the street finds out, the smart money has already gotten out.

[fastbow]

That’s why trump said “I LOVE THE POORLY EDUCATED “!

[patrickgagnon]

They forgot Jim Cramer and Jp Morgan, goldman, comex, Elon.