While trading, the white collar fraudsters artificially control the price and volume of the traded shares, leveraging several methods. For example, Petrossi and his gang use nominees to purchase and sell ForceField stock without disclosing the information to investors and potential investors. Secondly, Petrossi orchestrates the trading of ForceField stock to create the misleading appearance of genuine trading volume. In doing so, potential investors take interest in the stock. Third, and arguably most egregious, Petrossi conceals secret payments to stock promoters and broker dealers. In return, the promoters and dealers promote and sell ForceField stock to investors and potential investors. The kicker, however, is that the promoters and dealers falsely claim to be independent of the company. Finally, the fraudulent scheme causes a loss of approximately $131 million to the investing public.
