The U.S. Department of Justice has announced the distribution of more than $15 million to victims affected by a global securities fraud scheme involving Roger Knox and his associates. The funds, which include over $12.4 million forfeited to the United States from Knox and his co-conspirators, were distributed to more than 8,000 victims. An additional $3.1 million recovered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was also distributed.
Roger Knox operated a Swiss-based asset management firm initially called Silverton, later renamed Wintercap. Through this business, Knox facilitated pump-and-dump schemes by selling large quantities of microcap securities for undisclosed control groups who owned the stock through nominee entities. These shares were kept in blocks smaller than 5% of each issuer’s total outstanding shares to avoid federal disclosure requirements and sale restrictions.
To drive up investor interest, these control groups coordinated promotional campaigns that artificially increased share prices and trading volumes. Between 2016 and 2018, proceeds from these activities exceeded $137 million, which Knox transferred to co-conspirators worldwide using complex methods designed to hide the origin of the funds. The U.S. Attorney’s Office sought assets both within the United States and internationally in countries including the United Kingdom, Malta, Mauritius, United Arab Emirates, Canada, and Switzerland.
Knox pleaded guilty in January 2020 in Boston federal court. He was sentenced in October 2023 to three years in prison and ordered in January 2024 to pay over $58 million in restitution to more than 8,000 victims.
“Illegal pump-and-dump schemes cause financial hardship on countless innocent investors and erode the integrity of our capital markets. Not only is my office is committed to identifying fraudsters like Mr. Knox and holding them accountable,” said United States Attorney Leah B. Foley. “We are fully committed to recovering funds to compensate victims of crime and ensuring that crime does not pay.”
“As Roger Knox whittled away his time behind bars for his role in a staggering global securities fraud scheme that defrauded thousands of victims out of tens of millions of dollars, the FBI’s been hard at work ensuring those victims are compensated for the significant financial and emotional harm they suffered,” said Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Division. “The distribution of $15 million is an important first step in making these unwitting investors whole and putting market manipulators on notice that they too will pay a hefty price for their criminal conduct.”
Funds recovered from other defendants—Eric Landis, Richard Targett-Adams, and Morrie Tobin—were also applied toward compensating victims through the remission fund associated with this case.
In a related case from 2022 involving microchip stock fraud schemes, authorities applied $1.9 million in forfeited funds as restitution for over 1,000 victims.
The Department of Justice continues efforts through its Asset Forfeiture Program to recover additional assets for affected individuals nationwide as part of ongoing victim compensation initiatives dating back over two decades.
U.S. Attorney Foley; A. Tysen Duva (Assistant Attorney General); FBI SAC Docks; along with support from the U.S. Marshals Service’s Complex Asset Unit made this announcement public today.
Since 2000, DOJ programs have returned more than $12 billion in forfeited assets to crime victims through specialized compensation efforts led by teams such as MNF Attorney Advisor Brittany R. Van Camp.
