The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has brought fraud charges against eight social media influencers accused of promoting languishing stocks to their followers and then dumping the shares when their prices rose.

Seven of the eight individuals have large social media followings and allegedly reaped over $100 million from their scheme since January 2020. 

The scheme allowed the influencers to purchase stock when its price was low and then sell it after it had been driven high. As the SEC complaint alleges, the individuals regularly sold their shares without disclosing their plans to dump the securities while promoting them.

The complaint further charges Daniel Knight with aiding and abetting the alleged scheme by, among other things, co-hosting a podcast in which he promoted many of the other individuals as expert traders and provided them with a forum for their manipulative statements. Knight also traded in concert with the other defendants and regularly generated profits from the manipulation, according to FinancialPlanning.com.

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