Eight traders with a Discord, and $114m in alleged profits
In December 2022 the SEC and the Justice Department charged eight men who ran the Atlas Trading community on Discord and Twitter, alleging they bought stocks, urged hundreds of thousands of followers to buy them, and sold into the rise without disclosing it. One defendant pleaded guilty in 2023; the rest have pleaded not guilty and are presumed innocent, with trial set for May 2027.
- Year
- 2022
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Charged — an allegation, not a conviction
- Reported loss
- $114.0 million
- Victims
- Not stated in the sources
- Schemes
- Pump and dump, and finfluencer manipulation
- Last reviewed
- 2026-09-06
The facts, as recorded
- The SEC filed charges on 14 December 2022 in the Southern District of Texas: SEC v. Edward Constantin, et al., No. 4:22-cv-04306.
- Eight defendants were charged: Perry Matlock, Edward Constantin (Constantinescu), Thomas Cooperman, Gary Deel, Mitchell Hennessey, Stefan Hrvatin, John Rybarczyk and Daniel Knight.
- The SEC put the scheme at approximately $100 million; the Justice Department's indictment put the defendants' profits at approximately $114 million from January 2020 to April 2022.
- Seven of the eight promoted themselves as successful traders and built hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter and in Discord stock chatrooms.
- The SEC alleges they bought stocks, posted price targets and positions to encourage followers to buy, then sold into the resulting rise without disclosing their plans.
- The eighth defendant, Daniel Knight, was charged with aiding and abetting by co-hosting a podcast that promoted the others as expert traders while trading alongside them.
- Knight pleaded guilty on 27 March 2023.
- A superseding indictment was returned on 8 February 2023 charging conspiracy to commit securities fraud and securities fraud.
- The remaining defendants have pleaded not guilty and denied the charges; trial is scheduled for 3 May 2027 and they are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Why this case matters
A pump-and-dump used to require a boiler room: rented offices, phone lines, a script, people paid to read it.
The SEC’s allegation here is that the same result was achieved by eight men with Twitter accounts and a Discord server, and that it produced roughly $114 million between January 2020 and April 2022.
What is alleged
Seven of the defendants built large followings — the SEC says hundreds of thousands — by presenting themselves as successful traders. They ran an online community called Atlas Trading, which they promoted as one of the largest free communities for individual stock traders, with a Discord chatroom.
The alleged sequence: buy a stock, post price targets and positions to the following, and sell into the rise the posts produced, without ever disclosing the plan to sell.
The eighth defendant, Daniel Knight, is alleged to have aided and abetted the scheme by co-hosting a podcast that promoted the others as expert traders while trading alongside them.
Knight pleaded guilty on 27 March 2023. The remaining seven have pleaded not guilty, denied the charges, and are presumed innocent; trial is scheduled for 3 May 2027.
Why this shape of case is hard
Reading the allegation carefully shows what makes finfluencer manipulation different from a boiler room, and harder to prosecute.
Nothing described is illegal on its own. Buying a stock is legal. Saying you like it is legal. Selling it is legal. Having many followers is legal. The alleged offence lives entirely in the undisclosed intention — that the promotion existed to create the buyers they would sell to.
That is why the defence in these cases is what it is, and why a securities fraud trial about tweets was set for four and a half years after the charges.
What it means for a reader
Not “distrust influencers” — most people already discount advertising.
The useful lesson is narrower. A trader who tells you their position has a reason to want the price to move, and that reason exists whether or not they are honest. Disclosure of a position is not a disclosure of intent, and “I’m holding” is a statement about the past tense.
The specific risk is the one the SEC describes: posts that create buyers. If a stock’s move is explained by attention rather than by anything about the company, the people who arrived first are the ones the move is for.
Sources
- SEC Charges Eight Social Media Influencers in $100 Million Stock Manipulation Scheme Promoted on Discord and Twitter. US Securities and Exchange Commission. Accessed 2026-09-06. Supports: The 14 December 2022 charges, all eight defendants and their handles, the $100m figure, the follower counts, the buy-promote-sell mechanics and Knight's aiding and abetting charge.
- Edward Constantin, et al. (Litigation Release No. 25591). US Securities and Exchange Commission. Accessed 2026-09-06. Supports: The case caption, court, allegations and relief sought including a penny stock bar against Hrvatin.
- United States v. Edward Constantinescu et al.. US Department of Justice, Criminal Division. Accessed 2026-09-06. Supports: The superseding indictment of 8 February 2023, the charges, Knight's guilty plea of 27 March 2023, the not-guilty pleas, the 3 May 2027 trial date and the presumption of innocence.