Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Two Chinese nationals could spend decades in jail for targeting U.S. investors in a predatory "pump-and-dump" scheme to allegedly rake in millions on artificially-inflated stock prices.
An indictment unsealed Thursday in Virginia's eastern district charged "foreign actors" Lai Kui Sen and Yan Zhao in a "complex" securities fraud scheme that weaponized the stock of Ostin Technology Group Co. Ltd. from April to June to allegedly target American retail investors and net over $100 million in the process for the two defendants and at least 15 co-conspirators.
"Protecting the integrity of our financial markets remains a top priority," Erik S. Siebert, U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Virginia, said Friday in a statement.
The Cayman Islands OST is a publicly-traded NASDAQ company with principal operations based in China.
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