Man admits to securities scheme that netted more than $17M
The scheme was operated from 2014 to 2016
A New Jersey-based securities trader admitted Tuesday to orchestrating a massive, long-running market manipulation scheme and tax fraud that netted more than $17 million in illegal profits, federal prosecutors said.
Joseph Taub, 41, of Clifton, pleaded guilty to two counts in an indictment charging him with securities fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
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The scheme was operated from 2014 to 2016, prosecutors said. Taub and others conspired to manipulate the securities prices of numerous public companies by coordinating trading in dozens of brokerage accounts he secretly controlled.
Taub used “straw accounts” that were held in the names of others to conduct much of his trading, prosecutors said. Taub funded many of these straw accounts and used the straw account holders to conceal the scheme from regulators and law enforcement.
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Taub could have faced up to 25 years in prison, but his plea bargain calls for him to receive an 18-month prison term when he's sentenced Dec. 1. He also will forfeit $17.1 million and must pay $394,424 to the IRS.