Former Stockbroker Sentenced for Microcap Stock Manipulation Scheme

BOSTON – A former California stockbroker was sentenced today in federal court in Boston in connection with his role in a scheme to manipulate the stock of a publicly traded microcap company.

Adam Hand, 53, of Newport Beach, Calif., was senteneced by U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release. In July 2016, Hand pleaded guilty to an information charging him with conspiracy to commit securities fraud. In May 2018, his brother, Jehu Hand, 62, was convicted following a 13-day trial of conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud. Jehu Hand is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 10, 2018. In August 2016, their brother, Learned Hand, 60, of Chapel Hill, N.C., pleaded guilty to an information charging him with conspiracy to commit securities fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 3, 2018.

The charges arose out of the Hand brothers’ involvement in a pump-and-dump scheme to manipulate the market for the stock of Crown Marketing, a microcap or “penny stock” company that claimed to own patented drug delivery technology.

According to evidence at the trial of Jehu Hand, in 2010, Jehu Hand incorporated Crown and issued stock to various front companies he secretly controlled. After registering this stock with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2012, Jehu enlisted his brothers Adam and Learned to participate in the pump-and-dump scheme. Learned became the CEO of Crown and put out misleading press releases about the company, while Adam engaged in coordinated trading and sold Crown’s stock as the company was being falsely promoted. In total, the conspirators sold over 23 million shares of Crown stock, thereby causing investor losses of more than $1.5 million.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today.  The United States Attorney’s Office received valuable assistance from the Securities & Exchange Commission and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority during the investigation of this matter. SEC Attorney Andrew Palid, who was appointed as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie Herbert of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted case.