Five Individuals Charged in Offering Fraud, Stock Manipulation and Money Laundering Schemes
Department of Justice, 14 April 2021
A five-count indictment was filed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Richard Dale Sterritt, Jr., Michael Greer, Robert Magness, Mark Ross and Robyn Straza with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, among other offenses. The charged crimes arise out of a series of securities fraud schemes, including an offering fraud targeted at investors and potential investors in an oil and gas company in Texas and the attempted manipulation of the publicly traded stock of a cannabis company. The defendants were arrested today. Sterritt, Greer and Straza will make their initial appearance in federal court in Dallas, Texas; Magness and Ross will make their initial appearance in Brooklyn.
Mark J. Lesko, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the arrests and indictment.
“Through a web of related schemes, Sterritt and his co-defendants allegedly stole millions of dollars from investors, attempted to manipulate a publicly-traded stock and laundered the proceeds of their crimes through the purchase of luxury items like a Bentley,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Lesko. “This Office will identify and vigorously prosecute those who take advantage of investors to enrich themselves at the expense of the integrity of our financial markets.” Mr. Lesko thanked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, New York Regional Office, for its assistance during the investigation.
