ASIC secures win against HotCopper pump and dump trader

The securities watchdog has secured a guilty finding against a Victorian man who used 13 aliases to manipulate the share price of 20 listed companies.

ASIC has secured a guilty finding against a Victorian man who used 13 aliases to manipulate the share price of 20 listed companies. Picture: Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire

A man using the pseudonym Fibonarchery has admitted to using online share trading discussion forum HotCopper to run a pump-and-dump scheme in which he manipulated the share price of 20 different ASX-listed companies.

Gabriel Govinda pleaded guilty to 23 charges of manipulation of mostly listed mining stocks and 19 charges of illegal dissemination of information relating to manipulation after being pursued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

ASIC had accused Mr Govinda of using fake, prop, or dummy bids through multiple share trading platforms held in the names of his friends and family, to manipulate the share prices between at least September 2014 and July 2015.

Mr Govinda was also found to use online forums to illegally disseminate information about his wash trades and dummy bids as part of efforts to pump the shares before selling them at a higher price.

ASIC noted that the Victorian man bragged about his trades on HotCopper, telling the forum “dummy bids are all part of the fun and games and cat and mouse of the stockmarket!”. Mr Govinda’s HotCopper account was suspended in 2016, in a move that platform members had questioned.

In one thread titled “Fibonarchery”, HotCopper member Verce asked why the account had been suspended, writing: “He was a quality poster with some good insights”.

ASIC is understood to have approached HotCopper on a number of occasions to get information on the identity of its users in a bid to clamp down on pump-and-dump spruiking.

HotCopper managing director Jag Sanger said the platform, “among other social media platforms”, had been used in the past by those “who have preyed on vulnerable investors” to manipulate stock markets.

“To fight this over the past few years we have invested in the largest stock focused social media moderation team in Australia, data analytics to target suspected behaviours and comprehensive engagement with enforcement bodies,” he said.

“Our message to online stock manipulators is simple: Anonymous does not mean unknown. And we applaud ASIC on its investigation focus and we will continue to protect the integrity of the market and the interests of all shareholders - regardless of size.”

The regulator alleged Mr Govinda traded shares between accounts he controlled to disguise the nature of his transactions.

Mr Govinda’s conviction is the first time someone has been found guilty under sections in the Corporations Act which aim to prevent the dissemination of information about illegal transactions. Mr Govinda faces 10 years in prison or a maximum fine of $765,000 for each charge he has pleaded guilty to.

However, if Mr Govinda had engaged in the activity after March 2019 he would have faced increased penalties of 15 years jail.

The conviction secured by ASIC comes as the regulator turns the screws on pump-and-dump operators.

ASIC warned in September 2021 that it was concerned about pump-and-dump activities around listed stocks, warning it was working closely with the Australian Securities Exchange to track potential market manipulation.

The Australian has revealed how ASIC monitored Telegram channels and Twitter groups as part of its efforts to monitor pump-and-dump activities.

A freedom of information request revealed that ASIC was concerned about the sophistication and scale of market manipulation efforts and implored social media platforms to take action.

ASIC was also alerted to manipulation of cryptocurrencies by University of Technology finance researcher Talis Putnins, who warned in a presentation to the regulator of clear market manipulation.

Court documents indicate Mr Govinda was found to have illegally traded in Brumby Resources, BBX Minerals, AVZ Minerals, Zeus Resources, Stratum Metals, 3D Resources, Taruga Gold, ORH, Questus, Pacific Environment, Haranga Resources, Disruptive Investment, Cellnet, Rectifier Technologies, Quantum Energy, Bluechip, Sun Biomedical, Regalpoint Resources, Altura Mining and Alchemy Resources.