Craig Auringer, a 52-year-old Canadian citizen arrested yesterday morning in Milan on an arrest warrant from the New York Prosecutor, is believed to be an expert in manipulating the stock market through the 'pump & dump' system.
The businessman, resident in England, was walking in the very central Via Manzoni, a stone's throw from the Duomo, where he was staying in the luxurious Armani Hotel.
He gave his documents to the police who stopped him.
Wanted for international fraud, he is now in San Vittore awaiting extradition to the USA.
He is believed to be at the center of a manipulation of the US corporate market that has generated, according to the indictment, "over $ 100 million in illegal income" damaging thousands of investors in the global market.
Ten people "residing in Canada, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Spain, Monaco, Turkey and Bahamas" are currently being investigated by the Federal Court of Manhattan for this alleged maxi-scam in the United States.
According to the allegations, the suspects, who are part of a business gang called the International Stock Manipulation Ring, participated in "pump-and-dump actions that followed a typical pattern. First, they secretly amassed control of the vast majority of companies. shares of some publicly traded companies that have been traded on the over-the-counter ("OTC") market in the US Second, they artificially inflated the share price and trading volume through coordinated deals and fake promotional campaigns and misleading financed by them.
In essence, the gang members, all professional speculators, would have rounded up a myriad of small company shares, made sure to inflate them, sell them at highs, and then let the bubble burst causing investors to bankrupt.
Finally, they would have laundered the proceeds in order to hide the source of the income and the identity of the beneficiaries.
At the moment it is not clear what Auringer did in Milan.
We only know that he was in possession of his real documents and that at the time of the detention he was walking alone, like a normal tourist, doing nothing that could attract his attention.
His name reportedly triggered the hotel alert, which led police to track him down.