“A pretzel-shop worker committed a $1 million fraud to buy Tesla, GameStop, and Nvidia shares - and ended up making $7,000 for his broker, SEC says
Theron Mohamed
Tue, August 29, 2023, 10:15 PM PDT·3 min read
In this article:
GameStop stocks are soaring after its CEO announced his departure. See how the company went from retail giant to gaming dinosaur.
GameStop has been a key player in the video-game industry for over two decades. Its business seemed to be on the verge of collapse, until company shares skyrocketed in January and February thanks to traders on Reddit. But will these stock rallies be enough to save GameStop?
Tesla CEO Elon Musk.HANNIBAL HANSCHKE /Getty Images
Deyonte Jahtori Anthony, 23, was a part-time employee of an Auntie Anne's in North Carolina last summer. On July 1, he applied for a self-directed brokerage account, claiming he earned between $25,000 and $50,000 a year when he was only making about $400 a month, the SEC said in a complaint filed on August 25 and viewed by Insider.
Anthony linked his trading account to a bank account with only 9 cents in it, then initiated unfunded deposits totaling $1 million between July 5 and 6. The pending deposits granted him access to $200,000 in immediate credit, which he plowed into eight stocks and an exchange-traded fund on July 6, the SEC said.
The pretzel-shop worker piled about $85,000 into Apple, $78,000 into GameStop, $22,000 into Nvidia, $13,000 into AMC Entertainment, and $700 into Tesla. He invested another $800 across Cano Health, Electronic Arts, Resolute Forest Products, and ETFMG Prime Cyber Security, per the SEC.
GameStop and AMC are both "meme stocks" that skyrocketed in price in early 2021, as retail investors bought them en masse in a bid to punish short sellers and pocket huge gains in a matter of days. Tesla and Nvidia also have passionate fanbases who expect the pair to win big from the artificial-intelligence revolution. Intense hype has helped to nearly double and more than triple the automaker and graphics-chip company's respective stock prices this year.
Nvidia. All but one of Anthony's trades were in the green when his broker cashed out, the SEC complaint shows.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pretzel-shop-worker-committed-1-201647808.html
Theron Mohamed
Tue, August 29, 2023, 10:15 PM PDT·3 min read
In this article:
- GME
- NVDA
- AMC
GameStop stocks are soaring after its CEO announced his departure. See how the company went from retail giant to gaming dinosaur.
GameStop has been a key player in the video-game industry for over two decades. Its business seemed to be on the verge of collapse, until company shares skyrocketed in January and February thanks to traders on Reddit. But will these stock rallies be enough to save GameStop?
Tesla CEO Elon Musk.HANNIBAL HANSCHKE /Getty Images
- A fast-food worker obtained $200,000 of advance credit by making bogus deposits, the SEC says.
- The Auntie Anne's employee piled the entire sum into Tesla, Nvidia, GameStop, AMC, and other stocks.
- His broker caught on and liquidated the holdings a day later, making a roughly $7,000 profit.
Deyonte Jahtori Anthony, 23, was a part-time employee of an Auntie Anne's in North Carolina last summer. On July 1, he applied for a self-directed brokerage account, claiming he earned between $25,000 and $50,000 a year when he was only making about $400 a month, the SEC said in a complaint filed on August 25 and viewed by Insider.
Anthony linked his trading account to a bank account with only 9 cents in it, then initiated unfunded deposits totaling $1 million between July 5 and 6. The pending deposits granted him access to $200,000 in immediate credit, which he plowed into eight stocks and an exchange-traded fund on July 6, the SEC said.
The pretzel-shop worker piled about $85,000 into Apple, $78,000 into GameStop, $22,000 into Nvidia, $13,000 into AMC Entertainment, and $700 into Tesla. He invested another $800 across Cano Health, Electronic Arts, Resolute Forest Products, and ETFMG Prime Cyber Security, per the SEC.
GameStop and AMC are both "meme stocks" that skyrocketed in price in early 2021, as retail investors bought them en masse in a bid to punish short sellers and pocket huge gains in a matter of days. Tesla and Nvidia also have passionate fanbases who expect the pair to win big from the artificial-intelligence revolution. Intense hype has helped to nearly double and more than triple the automaker and graphics-chip company's respective stock prices this year.
Nvidia. All but one of Anthony's trades were in the green when his broker cashed out, the SEC complaint shows.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pretzel-shop-worker-committed-1-201647808.html
