On July 23, 2021, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey entered a final consent judgment against Shaun Greenwald, a Certified Public Accountant whom the SEC charged in connection with his role in a market manipulation scheme.

The SEC's complaint, as amended on April 26, 2018, alleged that Greenwald actively participated in a fraudulent market manipulation scheme in which co-defendants Joseph Taub and Elazar Shmalo utilized dozens of securities accounts at several brokerage firms to artificially influence the market prices of more than 2,500 exchange-traded securities. The complaint further alleged that Greenwald concealed from brokerage firms that Taub was trading in accounts that Greenwald opened in his own name and the names of entities that he set up, in exchange for a portion of the profits. In a parallel criminal action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey filed criminal charges against Greenwald. On February 20, 2018, Greenwald pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit tax fraud. Greenwald was sentenced on February 23, 2021 to probation for a term of three years, ordered to submit to home detention for a period of eight months, ordered to forfeit all right, title and interest in the contents of a specified bank account, and ordered to pay restitution to the Internal Revenue Service in the amount of $394,424.00.

The final judgment entered against Greenwald in the SEC case permanently enjoins him from violating the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder and Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and the market manipulation provision of Section 9(a)(2) of the Exchange Act.

In a related administrative proceeding, the SEC issued an order on consent on July 28, 2021, permanently barring Greenwald from association with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer, municipal advisor, transfer agent, or nationally recognized statistical rating organization, and from participating in any offering of a penny stock. The SEC also issued an order on July 20, 2021 forthwith suspending Greenwald from appearing or practicing before the SEC pursuant to Rule 102(e)(2) of the SEC's Rules of Practice.

The litigation was led by Michael Ellis, Jack Kaufman and Wendy Tepperman, and supervised by Lara Shalov Mehraban of the New York Regional Office. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey.