FL Influencer Among 8 Charged In $100M Stock Fraud Scheme

WASHINGTON, DC — A Florida influencer is among eight people accused of using social media platforms Twitter and Discord to orchestrate a $100 million stock manipulation scheme, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Stefan Hrvatin of Florida, who goes by the Twitter handle @LadeBackk, is charged with securities fraud in connection with the scheme, officials announced Wednesday.

According to the SEC, Hrvatin was among eight defendants accused of promoting themselves as successful traders and cultivating hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter and in stock trading chatrooms on Discord.

Officials said starting in January 2020, seven defendants purchased certain stocks and then encouraged their substantial social media followings to buy those stocks by posting price targets or indicating they were buying, holding, or adding to their stock positions.

Despite their actions on social media, the defendants regularly sold their shares without ever disclosing their plans to dump the securities while they were promoting them, the complaint alleges.

"The defendants used social media to amass a large following of novice investors and then took advantage of their followers by repeatedly feeding them a steady diet of misinformation, which resulted in fraudulent profits of approximately $100 million," Joseph Sansone, chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Market Abuse Unit, said in a statement.

The SEC's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, seeks permanent injunctions and civil penalties against each defendant, as well as a penny stock bar against Hrvatin.

Criminal charges against all eight individuals also were filed by the Department of Justice’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.

Others charged include:

• Perry Matlock of Texas, or @PJ_Matlock on Twitter
• Edward Constantin of Texas, or @MrZackMorris on Twitter
• Thomas Cooperman of California, or @ohheytommy on Twitter
• Gary Deel of California, or @notoriousalerts on Twitter
• Mitchell Hennessey of New Jersey, or @Hugh_Henne on Twitter
• John Rybarcyzk of Texas, or @Ultra_Calls on Twitter

The complaint also charged Daniel Knight of Texas, or @DipDeity on Twitter, with aiding and abetting the scheme by co-hosting a podcast on which he promoted many of the other individuals as expert traders and provided them with a forum.

Investors can find additional information, including the warning signs of fraud, at Investor.gov.