The Justice Department filed two civil forfeiture complaints for more than $19.5 million in cash and stock obtained through pump-and-dump market manipulation schemes, Wealth Management reported.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the schemes involved two Hong-Kong based companies listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, CTRL Group Limited and Dreamland Limited.
The DOJ’s complaints filed in Manhattan federal court stated that in May and June 2025, various social media accounts on multiple platforms began to post hundreds of identical comments touting MCTR, the symbol for CTRL Group, as a stock that was going to increase in value.
In early June, MCTR stock price and trading volume spiked sharply, including approximately 44,200,000 shares trading on one day, a jump of more than 70,000% compared to the previous day. The surge was accompanied by a surge in social media activity promoting MCTR. After the social media activity stopped, MCTR’s stock price dropped. By the end of June 2025, MCTR’s stock price had declined to $2.82 per share.
“Between MCTR’s initial public offering and June 5, 2025, 10 U.S. brokerage accounts engaged in massive, profitable, and anomalous trading in MCTR, selling a combined total of approximately 1,065,313 shares for total proceeds of approximately $11,966,324.44,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “These 10 accounts were opened by individuals located in China or Hong Kong. Although the accounts were ostensibly owned and controlled by different people, eight of these accounts logged into their brokerage accounts with the same IP address and/or MAC address as at least one of the other accounts, indicating collusion.”
In June 2026, the government seized approximately $10.3 million in cash from the 10 brokerage accounts pursuant to seizure warrants issued by the U.S. District Court.
In the case of Dreamland, trading under the symbol TDIC, the share price surged more than ten-fold between May 13-14 2026, apparently driven in part by social media campaigns promoting it as a “short squeeze” play.
From January to May, the stock traded between $0.57 and $2.36 per share, with a daily trading volume of about 2.6 million. On May 13, the share price jumped to a high of $30 per share, with about 109 million shares traded. By the end of the 14th, the price had fallen back down to $0.80.
During the surge, a U.S. brokerage firm notified FINRA of unauthorized trades as a result of compromised login credentials belonging to a third-party financial advisor, resulting in potential stock manipulation of TDIC.
The credentials were used to access three client accounts, which attempted to purchase a combined total of approximately 1,361,488 shares of TDIC for a total of approximately $22,882,550.70. All of the purchases appeared to have been cancelled by the brokerage.
Around the same time, a brokerage account held in the name of Imperial Vision Fund SPC – Series 1 SP sold approximately 1,486,841 shares of TDIC for a total of about $17,692,745.89. Imperial Vision purports to be a Hong Kong-based investment fund incorporated in the Cayman Islands, and it previously purchased TDIC shares directly from Dreamland.
In June, the government seized approximately $8.4 million in cash and $850,000 worth of securities from the Imperial Vision brokerage account.
“These schemes, driven by Asia‑based small‑cap foreign issuers seeking to manipulate share prices and exploit American investors, pose serious risks to those who place their trust in our financial system,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Investors should exercise caution when dealing with thinly traded foreign issuers, as these companies can be especially vulnerable to manipulation and can expose investors to significant, often hidden, risks.
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