Securities Trader Pleads Guilty to Market Manipulation Conspiracy

BOSTON – A securities trader pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to his role in a sophisticated, multi-year market manipulation conspiracy involving securities traded on exchanges within the United States, including the New York Stock Exchange and NADSAQ.

Xiaosong Wang, 36, of Upton, Mass. pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young scheduled sentencing for Dec. 17, 2024. Wang was initially charged in October 2019. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Xiaosong Wang agreed to forfeit $1,041,084 in illicit proceeds from the conspiracy and agreed to an order removing him to China upon completion of his sentence.

From approximately 2013 through at least 2018, Wang participated in the manipulative trading activity of a group of securities traders located in China and, at times, in Massachusetts. Specifically, Xiaosong Wang and his co-conspirators, including Jiali Wang, used multiple brokerage accounts in their names, and in the names of others with whom Xiaosong Wang and Jiali Wang had relationships, to artificially depress or inflate the prices of thinly traded securities. They did so by repeatedly placing relatively small sell (or buy) orders designed to send a false signal about a security’s supply (or demand) and to depress (or inflate) the security’s price. Xiaosong Wang and his co-conspirators then immediately placed relatively large buy (or sell) orders on the other side of the market to take advantage of their manipulations. Once the large orders executed, Xiaosong Wang and his co-conspirators cancelled their outstanding manipulative orders.

Jiali Wang pleaded guilty in August 2022 and was sentenced in December 2022 to time served (three months in prison) and nine months of home detention. Jiali Wang was also ordered to forfeit $7.75 million in illicit proceeds.

The charge of conspiracy to commit securities fraud provides for a sentence of up to 25 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Assistant U.S. Attorney James R. Drabick of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.