On 6 June 2022, Mr Gabriel Govinda (known online as ‘Fibonarchery’) pleaded guilty to 23 charges of manipulation of listed stocks on the Australian Securities Exchange and 19 charges of illegal dissemination of information relating to the manipulation.
Between September 2014 to July 2015, Mr Govinda used 13 different share trading accounts, held in the names of friends and relatives, to manipulate the share price of 20 different listed stocks. Mr Govinda manipulated the market, contrary to s1041B of the Corporations Act, by:
trading between the accounts he controlled (wash trading);
using fake, ‘prop’, or ‘dummy’ bids to falsely increase the perceived demand, and ultimate price, for listed stocks.
Mr Govinda’s guilty plea to charges under s1041D of the Corporations Act were in relation to his online posts on HotCopper in which he illegally disseminated information about his wash trades and dummy bids. He was seeking to increase (or pump) the share price, then selling (or dumping) the listed stocks at a higher price. This is often referred to as ‘pump and dump’.
In one HotCopper post, Mr Govinda stated “dummy bids are all part of the fun and games and cat and mouse of the stockmarket!”. This is the first time a person has been convicted of charges under s1041D of the Corporations Act.
ASIC has previously warned about social media led ‘pump and dump’ campaigns. ASIC continues to act against this form of market manipulation that threatens the integrity of markets. Posting on social media to coordinate ‘pump and dump’ activity in listed stocks is an offence under the Corporations Act.
This matter has been adjourned part-heard to 29 July 2022 for a mention hearing.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions prosecuted the matter after a referral from ASIC.
