Securities Fraud Investigator · CFE
Microcap Fraud Expert
Joe Darragh is a former SEC investigator who spent nearly a decade dismantling microcap fraud and helping build the systems used to detect it. He brings that depth to your matter.
Deep Subject Knowledge
Manipulation, unregistered distributions, and shell structures are familiar ground, so the work starts at analysis instead of orientation.
Data at Any Scale
Millions of trades, transactions, and documents, organized into a timeline of the facts that decide your matter.
Withstands Scrutiny
Every conclusion is tied to the record and handled in confidence, so privilege stays protected and the analysis holds up.
Securities Fraud Cases Are Won or Lost
on the Strength of the Analysis
Millions of trades, hundreds of thousands of documents, and opaque corporate structures designed to hide the truth. Without knowing how microcap fraud works, and where to focus, critical evidence stays buried.
Joe has spent a career making sure it doesn’t
220+
trading suspensions
$700 Million+
aggregate fraud across matters
20+
civil complaints
You don’t have to know where to start.
Microcap investigations require specialized experience. Thin trading, unusual investor behavior, and layers of hidden ownership can make familiar investigative methods less effective.
Joe has spent more than a decade investigating microcap matters around the world. He has traced complex schemes from beginning to end and heard directly from cooperating witnesses about how they were carried out. That perspective informs his work from the first conversation.
Experience that brings clarity. Joe combines a deep understanding of microcap markets with the analytical and technical skill to make sense of complex records and explain what happened.
Certified Fraud Examiner
Since 2013
Services
How Joe can help with your matter.
Joe works with law firms, brokerage firms, investors, government agencies, and corporations in securities investigations and litigation.
Fraud Investigations
Assess the facts, formulate strategy, collect and analyze evidence, and deliver clear analysis that stands up to scrutiny.
Litigation Support
Embedded on your legal team, from document review and financial analysis to settlement calculations and evidence assessment.
Expert Witness
Expert reports, declarations, and testimony on microcap fraud, the OTC markets, market manipulation, and reverse mergers.
The Case Record
A few of the federal enforcement matters Joe worked on while at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SEC v. Galas, et al.
Four traders used wash trades and matched orders to inflate six microcap stocks, timing their sales to online promotions for over $2.5 million in profits.
SEC v. Lin, et al.
Lin and Chen bought 8.4 million shell-company shares for about $31,000 and sold into a promotion for over $1.8 million, with no registration statement.
SEC v. Beaufort Securities, et al.
A London brokerage opened nominee accounts and entered matched trades for an undercover FBI agent. One matched trade nearly doubled HD View's stock price.
Ready to discuss your matter?
Share a few details about your matter, and Joe will be in touch within 1-2 business days. If it might make sense to work together, the next step is a complimentary consultation.