SEC bars George Thoreson for alleged penny stock manipulation

SEC Bars Former Washington Broker George Thoreson

According to a press announcement, the Securities and Exchange Commission has barred George Thoreson, formerly of Wells Fargo Advisors. Thoreson agreed to settle SEC charges that he purportedly manipulated the stock of a microcap company in an attempt to get it listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

The SEC alleged that, between approximately April 2012 and September 2013, Thoreson and others placed trades at above-market prices at or near the end of trading days. The SEC further alleges that these actions were for the purpose of achieving a reported closing price of $2 per share or higher for 90 consecutive trading days to get approval of the stock’s then-pending Nasdaq listing. According to the SEC, their alleged manipulation efforts the company was apparently ultimately unsuccessful at obtaining a Nasdaq listing.

According to Investopedia, manipulation is the act of artificially inflating or deflating the price of a security. In most cases, manipulation is illegal. It is much easier to manipulate the share price of smaller companies, such as penny stocks, because they are not as closely watched by analysts as the medium- and large-sized firms.

Abakan Inc., the stock in the company involved in the case, recently traded at three-tenths of a cent per share.

According to FINRA BrokerCheck, Thoreson was registered with Wells Fargo Advisors in Bellevue, WA from 2008 until October 2013. Wells Fargo reportedly discharged Thoreson for “allegations related to financial advisor’s trading and personal dealings in a non-exchange listed security.” He then worked for Northwest Asset Management, from November 2013 to March 2017. He is no longer working in the securities industry. Thoreson has five disclosure events listed on his Broker Report.

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This information, which is publicly available on the SEC’s website, has been provided by The White Law Group.

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