Money manager turned day trader Toru Yamada, aka “Tonpin,” from Osaka, Japan, has been taken into custody for his alleged role in the 550% price spike in Nichidai Corporation (TSE: 6467.T) that occurred in 2018.
Bloomberg, citing Japanese media, wrote that Yamada and another were detained, but not yet charged, for “market manipulation.”
According to Bloomberg, in December of 2017, Yamada began buying shares of Nichidai Corp stock.
Yahoo! Finance shows only 9 million shares outstanding, which makes it a prime target for promoters as a low-float stock.
Bloomberg noted that Yamada began tweeting about his position in February of 2018 after the stock price had already risen about 200%.
The price continued higher, more than doubling from that point, reaching its peak on March 15.
After the massive 550% run up, the price collapsed — losing all of its gains by the end of the year.
It’s unclear what Yamada will be charged with and when. In Japan, you can be detained for up to 23 days without being charged with a crime.
The story is eerily similar to the GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) saga that’s still playing out in the U.S. right now.
Licensed securities professional Keith Gill shared his position with the Reddit group WallStreetBets months before it surged as much as 2,900% in January of 2021.
Often, investigations in securities markets take years to play out. The three-year delay in charges in this Japanese case echoes similar themes from the regulators and prosecutors here in the states.
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