Stock Trader Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Medical Technology Company Investors, Faces up to 5 Years in Prison

United States / National – On June 9, 2022, a California man pleaded guilty in connection with a scheme to defraud investors in a publicly traded company’s securities and manipulate the stock price.

Jason Nielsen, 48, of Scotts Valley, was a major shareholder in Arrayit, a publicly traded medical device company based in California, according to court documents. Nielsen engaged in an illegal “scalping” and “spoofing” scheme to manipulate the price of Arrayit securities from approximately 2019 to April 2020. Nielsen used online message boards to publicly post false and misleading information about the nature of his trading in Arrayit securities in order to induce others to buy Arrayit securities and drive up the stock price, a practice known as “scalping.”

Nielsen admitted to placing orders for Arrayit stock that he intended to cancel before they were executed. These orders were intended to deceive the public and Arrayit shareholders by signaling demand for Arrayit securities that did not exist. Nielsen was able to sell his shares at artificially inflated prices as a result of this, a practice known as “spoofing.” Nielsen was secretly selling his own previously acquired shares at an artificially inflated price while engaging in these practices.

Nielsen entered a guilty plea on one count of securities fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 24 and faces up to five years in prison. A federal district court judge will impose a sentence based on the United States Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds for the Northern District of California; Special Agent in Charge Steven Ryan of the Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan of the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office; Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Criminal Investigations Group; Special Agent in Charge Kim Lampkins of the Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG), Mid-Atlantic Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Bryan Denny of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General’s (DoD OIG) Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) made the announcement.

HHS-OIG’s San Francisco Regional Office and Detroit Regional Office, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the FBI, VA-OIG and DCIS investigated the case.

Acting Principal Assistant Chief Justin Weitz, Assistant Chief Jacob Foster, and Trial Attorney Laura Connelly of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lloyd Farnham of the Northern District of California are prosecuting the case.

The Fraud Section is using the Victim Notification System (VNS) to notify victims of case information and updates. Victims with questions should contact the Fraud Section’s Victim Assistance Unit by calling 1-888-549-3945 or emailing [email protected]. For more information on victims’ rights, go to: https://www.justice.gov/criminal-vns/victim-rights-derechos-de-las-v-ctimas. Please go to https://www.justice.gov/criminal-vns/case/Nielsen if you believe you are a victim.

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