The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against David Banister and The Market Analysts Group, LLC.
The relevant complaint was submitted at the New York Southern District Court on December 6, 2024.
The SEC’s Complaint alleges that, between December 2020 and March 2021 (the “Relevant Period”), Banister and Market Analysts—Banister’s wholly owned business—engaged in a fraudulent scheme to manipulate the stock of a public company, BioVie Inc.
The defendants promoted BioVie to investors—encouraging them to buy and hold the stock—while concealing Banister’s plans to sell his own BioVie shares.
The defendants perpetrated this scheme through subscription-based stock advisory services that they owned and controlled, as well as postings on an investment-focused social media platform on which Defendants had more than 60,000 followers.
In recommending BioVie stock to investors, Defendants touted recent increases in trading volume while failing to disclose that such spikes were driven in significant part by Banister’s own purchases. Banister’s trading activity created an artificial appearance of increased market demand for BioVie stock, which Defendants could then highlight to encourage investors to buy BioVie, while at the same time secretly planning to sell Banister’s shares.
As a result of Defendants’ scheme, Banister pocketed net profits totalling approximately $1.37 million from his sales of BioVie stock in the Relevant Period. Meanwhile, Defendants’ scheme harmed other BioVie investors who paid inflated prices for their shares and/or suffered trading losses after buying the stock following Defendants’ misleading recommendations.
The Commission seeks a final judgment ordering the defendants to disgorge all ill-gotten gains they received as a result of the violations alleged here and to pay prejudgment interest thereon, pursuant to Exchange Act Sections 21(d)(3), 21(d)(5), and 21(d)(7) [15 U.S.C. §§ 78u(d)(3), 78u(d)(5), and 78u(d)(7)] and ordering Defendants to pay civil money penalties pursuant to Securities Act Section 20(d) [15 U.S.C. § 77t(d)], Exchange Act Section 21(d)(3) [15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(3)], and Advisers Act Section 209(e) [15 U.S.C. § 80b-9(e)].
