On November 4, 2015, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York announced that Darren Ofsink, a Manhattan attorney and founder of Ofsink LLC; Michael Morris, a registered broker and managing director of Halcyon Cabot Partners, Ltd. (Halcyon); and Darren Goodrich, a registered broker for fourteen years at BMA Securities, a firm controlled by Burt Martin Arnold were arrested earlier today on charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud in connection with a $300 million market manipulation scheme. In addition to the three defendants arrested today, the eleven-count superseding indictment unsealed this morning charges four additional defendants who were arrested in July 20 14: Abraxas J. Discala, also known as “AJ Discala,” the Chief Executive Officer of OmniView Capital Advisors LLC; Ira Shapiro, the Chief Executive Officer of CodeSmart Holdings, Inc., a publicly traded company; and Craig Josephberg, a registered broker. Three defendants, Marc Wexler, Matthew Bell, and Victor Azrak, who were charged in the underlying indictment, have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
Ofsink and Morris will be arraigned later today. Darren Goodrich’s initial appearance for removal proceedings to the Eastern District of New York is scheduled for this afternoon at the United States Courthouse, 312 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, California. Discala, Shapiro and Josephberg will be arraigned on the superseding indictment at a later date.
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