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It’s an old lesson in government investigations, but one worth repeating. Conduct during an investigation can matter as much as the conduct under investigation – sometimes even more.
High-profile prosecutions of the past have shown the severe consequences of mistakes in responding to government investigations. Martha Stewart went to prison not for insider trading but for how she responded to an insider trading investigation. Barry Bonds was convicted not for steroid use, but for how he responded to a steroids investigation.
Just as flawed responses can increase risk in government investigations, so too can legally sound responses reduce risk, as a recent securities and tax fraud case showed. Thanks to a prudent response to a government investigation, an accountant avoided prison altogether for his role in an illegal $17 million stock manipulation scheme that allegedly pocketed him hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Litigation Release No. 24999 / December 30, 2020
, curities and Exchange Commission v. Joseph Taub, et al., 16 Civ. 09130 (D.N.J.) (filed December 12, 2016)
On December 28, 2020, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey entered a final consent judgment against Joseph Taub, whom the SEC charged with orchestrating a market manipulation scheme.
The SEC s complaint, filed on December 12, 2016 and amended on April 26, 2018, alleged that Taub engaged in a fraudulent market manipulation scheme, utilizing dozens of securities accounts at several brokerage firms to create the false appearance of trading interest and activity in particular exchange-traded securities, thereby enabling him to purchase stocks at artificially low prices and then quickly sell them at artificially high prices for substantial profits. The complaint further alleged that Taub took steps to conceal the trading scheme and supervised the manipulative trading of a co-defendant. In a parallel cri
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A securities trader from Clifton was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in federal prison for orchestrating a market manipulation scheme that netted him and others more than $17 million, authorities said.
Joseph Taub, 41, must serve the entire term because there’s no parole in the federal prison system.
U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez also sentenced Taub via teleconference from Newark to one year of supervised release, while ordering him to forfeit $17.1 million and pay restitution of $394,424 to the IRS.
The Department of Justice also has reached a settlement of a civil forfeiture case against assets acquired by Taub and his family as a result of the scheme, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.