SEC Asks Court to Dismiss Lawsuit Against Carlos Watson

SEC Drops Carlos Watson Fraud Case After Trump Axed Prison Term

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is dropping its fraud case against Carlos Watson Jr., the co-founder of now-defunct Ozy Media Inc. who was spared by President Donald Trump from an almost 10-year prison term after he was convicted of lying to investors in the digital startup.

The regulator moved Thursday to dismiss civil claims against Watson, who gained notoriety after he directed his co-founder to impersonate a YouTube executive on a call with bankers at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The SEC is also seeking approval from a federal judge in Brooklyn, New York, to drop claims against Ozy Media, the latest in a string of lawsuits the agency is abandoning since Trump took office.

Harvard Business School grad arrested, allegedly cheated fellow alums out of over $4M

A Harvard Business School graduate was arrested Thursday on fraud charges alleging he swindled fellow alumni of the prestigious school out of over $4 million in a Ponzi scheme, even assuring one investor they would soon “brag” about their “crazy gains” at the school’s reunion. […]

Artamonov, a 2003 Harvard graduate with a master’s in business administration, used the school’s alumni network to identify investors, authorities said.

The indictment said he promised investors that he could identify securities on the verge of making large gains by spotting public insurance company filings by affiliates of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. prior to public filings made to the Securities and Exchange Commission that are more closely followed by investors.

Instead of following that plan, Artamonov put investor money into risky short-term options, losing millions of dollars, often within days of receiving the money from investors, the indictment said.

Kash Patel Called Krispy Kreme Stock a Buy and Fueled Wild Rally

Patel, who’s faced withering criticism from lawmakers in both the Senate and lower house, was pressed at one point on why he had purchased individual stocks while in office. Patel explained that he’s long liked to trade stocks and said that in this case he simply saw “good investment” opportunities in Krispy Kreme Inc. and ON Semiconductor Corp.

Within minutes, Krispy Kreme stock was up 12% and ON Semiconductor 4.1%. The stocks closed the day up roughly 1% and 0.5%, respectively, amid a broader market selloff following the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate cut.

That the director of the FBI can move stocks, with seemingly the most anodyne of comments, illustrates the sway on markets that crowds of amateur traders now have. They’ve bid up meme stocks and obscure crypto currencies and SPACs and, more recently, shares associated with President Donald Trump and his inner circle. Patel, who’s been a loyal Trump supporter for years, was appointed to run the FBI shortly after last year’s election.