SEC v. Milan Vinod Patel, No. LR-26283, Northern District of Georgia (Apr. 11, 2025) — Press Release

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 26283/ April 11, 2025 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Milan Patel, Civil Action No. 23-CV-0026-RWS (N.D. Ga. filed Feb. 16, 2023) SEC Obtains Judgment Against Leader of Scheme to Spread and Trade on False Rumors On April 11, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia entered a final judgment against Milan Vinod Patel of Cumming, Georgia for his role in a scheme that spread more than 100 false rumors about public companies and generated millions of dollars in illicit trading profits. The SEC previously charged Barton Ross, Mark Melnick, Anthony Salandra, and Charles Parrino for their roles in this scheme. The SEC’s complaint against Patel was filed on February 16, 2023. It alleged that Patel received fabricated rumors that he knew to be false from Ross, Salandra, or Parrino about material events, such as corporate mergers or acquisitions and disseminated the bogus rumors to his contacts at financial news services, financial chat rooms, and certain other financial news purveyors via instant messages. The complaint further alleged that Patel’s contacts then immediately disseminated the rumors further through their news services and in chat rooms and message boards. Patel also allegedly disseminated the rumors to Melnick, a host of a stock trading webcast, who shared them with his webcast subscribers. As alleged in the SEC’s complaint, the circulation of more than 100 rumors between December 2017 and January 2020 caused the prices of the subject companies’ publicly-traded securities to rise temporarily, which allowed Patel to sell his holdings in such securities and generate more than $1 million in illicit trading profits. The Court’s judgment permanently enjoins Patel from violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and requires him to pay disgorgement in the amount of $1,125,263, plus prejudgment interest thereon of $395,309. In a parallel action brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, Patel pleaded guilty to criminal charges and was sentenced to eighteen months in prison. The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Martin Zerwitz of the Enforcement Division’s Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit and Jonathan Austin. It was supervised by Joseph G. Sansone, Chief of the Market Abuse Unit. The SEC’s litigation was led by Damon Taaffe and supervised by James Carlson. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia and the FBI.

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 26283/ April 11, 2025 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Milan Patel, Civil Action No. 23-CV-0026-RWS (N.D. Ga. filed Feb. 16, 2023) SEC Obtains Judgment Against Leader of Scheme to Spread and Trade on False Rumors On April 11, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia entered a final judgment against Milan Vinod Patel of Cumming, Georgia for his role in a scheme that spread more than 100 false rumors about public companies and generated millions of dollars in illicit trading profits. The SEC previously charged Barton Ross, Mark Melnick, Anthony Salandra, and Charles Parrino for their roles in this scheme. The SEC’s complaint against Patel was filed on February 16, 2023. It alleged that Patel received fabricated rumors that he knew to be false from Ross, Salandra, or Parrino about material events, such as corporate mergers or acquisitions and disseminated the bogus rumors to his contacts at financial news services, financial chat rooms, and certain other financial news purveyors via instant messages. The complaint further alleged that Patel’s contacts then immediately disseminated the rumors further through their news services and in chat rooms and message boards. Patel also allegedly disseminated the rumors to Melnick, a host of a stock trading webcast, who shared them with his webcast subscribers. As alleged in the SEC’s complaint, the circulation of more than 100 rumors between December 2017 and January 2020 caused the prices of the subject companies’ publicly-traded securities to rise temporarily, which allowed Patel to sell his holdings in such securities and generate more than $1 million in illicit trading profits. The Court’s judgment permanently enjoins Patel from violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and requires him to pay disgorgement in the amount of $1,125,263, plus prejudgment interest thereon of $395,309. In a parallel action brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, Patel pleaded guilty to criminal charges and was sentenced to eighteen months in prison. The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Martin Zerwitz of the Enforcement Division’s Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit and Jonathan Austin. It was supervised by Joseph G. Sansone, Chief of the Market Abuse Unit. The SEC’s litigation was led by Damon Taaffe and supervised by James Carlson. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia and the FBI.