SEC Charges Final Participant in Multi-Million Dollar Scheme to Spread and Trade on False Rumors about Public Companies

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Milan Vinod Patel, of Cumming, Georgia, for spreading more than 100 false rumors about public companies to generate more than $1 million in illicit trading profits. The SEC previously charged Barton Ross, Mark Melnick, Anthony Salandra, and Charles Parrino for their roles in this scheme. According to the SEC’s complaint, Patel received rumors that he knew to be false from Ross, Salandra, or Parrino about purported market-moving events, such as corporate mergers or acquisitions, involving publicly-traded companies, and disseminated the rumors to his contacts at financial news services, chat rooms, and message boards.