Larissa Quinlan, Kurt Stuart, Emma Summer, and Syed Yusuf pleaded guilty in the Downing Centre Local Court to conspiracy to commit market rigging and dealing with the proceeds of crime, with the charges stemming from a Telegram group named the “ASX Pump and Dump Group”.
Quinlan, Stuart and Summer participated in the conspiracy to commit market rigging between about 28 August 2021 and about 22 September 2021, while Yusuf participated between about 17 September 2021 and about 22 September 2021.
They face a maximum penalty for the conspiracy offence of 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine of over $1 million.
Stuart and Summer each pleaded guilty to one count of dealing with money or other property that was, and that they believed to be, proceeds of crime to the value of $10,000 or more.
Quinlan and Yusuf each pleaded guilty to one count of dealing with money or other property that was, and that they believed to be, proceeds of crime to the value of $1,000 or more.
Yusuf also pleaded guilty to one count of dealing with money or other property that was proceeds of crime, reckless to that, to the value of $10,000 or more.
According to ASIC chair Joe Longo, the guilty pleas reflected the strength of ASIC’s case and its commitment to acting against unlawful conduct that undermines market integrity.
“ASIC takes breaches of the market manipulation rules very seriously and as demonstrated in this matter, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action where appropriate,” Longo said.
The matters are next in the Sydney District Court on 21 July 2025 for mention, to obtain a date for a sentence hearing.
The group were charged with the offences in July 2024, with ASIC detailing how they formed a private group on the Telegram app where they discussed and selected penny stocks to announce to the public Telegram group named the “ASX Pump and Dump Group”.
Nine announcements were made to the “ASX Pump and Dump Group” over three weeks in September 2021 to boost the selected stocks.
ASIC warned traders in a Telegram sharemarket chat room the following month that they may be breaking the law by seeking to organise stock price manipulation.
“Market manipulation is illegal. Pump and dump schemes are a form of financial fraud, eroding investor wealth, threatening the integrity of our markets and potentially the Australian economy more broadly,” Longo said at the time.
“Upholding the integrity of our Australia’s financial markets is a priority for ASIC.
“ASIC monitors the cleanliness of our markets, and we take decisive action to disrupt activities that may impact cleanliness. This is why we took the action of entering social media forums and posting directly to issue warnings to members that their actions may be in breach of the law.”
