SEC charges Toronto trader over $21m market abuse

WASHINGTON, DC - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged a Canadian trader with collecting at least $20.9 million in illicit profit. The US regulator filed a market-abuse complaint against Toronto-based George Georgiou claiming he manipulated the stock of four companies. Civil charges relating as far back as 2004 and up to September 2008 allege Georgiou directly and indirectly artificially inflated the share prices of Avicena Group, Neutron Enterprises, Hydrogen Hybrid Technologies and Northern Ethanol. Georgiou is alleged to have traded with broker-dealers, and to have indirectly worked using trading instructions to nominees with accounts in Canada, the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The SEC accuses Georgiou of hiding the scam by timing deals with company news, and alleges he revealed his guilt and criminal intentions in emails and recorded phone conversations.