The Dark Web and bitcoin are the tools of the trade for online criminals these days. Apostolos Trovias is alleged to be one of those criminals. He operated online under the pseudonymous online avatar “TheBull”. Mr. Trovias is alleged to have engaged in a deceptive scheme to offer and sell what he called “insider trading tips” on the Dark Web, offering purchasers an unfair advantage when trading securities.
Mr. Trovias claimed that he had order-book data from a securities trading firm that was provided to him by an employee of the trading firm. This would seem to be material, nonpublic information that was supposed to be kept confidential.
If Mr. Trovias had actually acquired some or all of the tips from actual order-book data or if he had stolen the order-book data himself, then he had engaged in a fraudulent scheme to sell material, nonpublic information that he knew or was reckless in not knowing was obtained in violation of a duty of trust and confidence. That’s illegal.
If Mr. Trovias did not actually have this information, then his statements were materially false and misleading and made in furtherance of a scheme to deceive purchasers who wanted to trade on inside information. That’s also illegal.
What fascinated me about this case is that the Securities and Exchange Commission doesn’t have to prove that Mr. Trovias was actually selling or using insider information. The SEC wins either way.
Sources: