On the dark web, MillionaireMike was a busy guy.
As far back as 2016, the account with that moniker bought names, addresses, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers on the underground marketplaces that traffic in illicit online goods. He took that personal info to open banking accounts in the names of unwitting strangers, and used those accounts to make trades based on insider information he gleaned from others. Eventually, he sold purported insider information himself—to an undercover FBI agent.
MillionaireMike is James Roland Jones, a 33-year-old SpaceX engineer who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud. A criminal complaint by the Justice Department details a string of investments that Jones made in the spring of 2017, mostly through an unnamed conspirator’s account, based on phony insider info provided by the undercover fed. That summer, the relationship would flip: Jones told the undercover agent on July 25 what an unnamed company's earnings would be, investing $5,000 on his behalf. Two days later, the numbers came out. They were identical.
The scheme detailed by the DOJ is not especially unusual. But a complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday delves much deeper into Jones’ alleged activity—and represents the first time the regulator has set its sights on the dark web.
The SEC paints Jones less as a savvy insider trader than a scammer, allegedly peddling bogus insider tips based on hunches rather than actual insight. It claims that Jones first entered the world of dark web ..
Support the originator by clicking the read the rest link below.
