Joseph Darragh, CFE

Experience

April 2022 – Present

Securities Fraud Investigator & Microcap Subject Matter Expert Independent Consultant

• Serves as an independent investigator on matters concerning violations of federal and state securities laws.
• Supports litigation teams through discovery strategy, document review, record analysis, and damages assessment.
• Provides expert opinions, affidavits, and testimony in matters involving the OTC markets and other small cap securities.
• Helps collect, assess, and develop evidence through document review, trading analysis, and witness interviews.
• Conducts market manipulation analysis using brokerage records and market-wide data, interpreting trading patterns and their price impact.
• Performs financial and bank record analysis to trace funds, determine profitability, and identify and quantify misappropriation.
• Leverages data analytics, natural language processing, and automation to streamline evidence review while keeping confidential case information secure.
• Participates in conference and industry panels on microcap fraud investigation techniques and prevention strategies.

September 2013 – April 2022

Investigator & Program Analyst U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission

• Principal investigator for the Microcap Fraud Task Force in the Enforcement Division, specializing in securities fraud, market manipulation, and unregistered distributions.
• Identified and interpreted manipulative trading patterns, including matched orders, wash trades, marking the close, spoofing, and layering, and assessed their materiality and market impact using Electronic Bluesheet (EBS) data, audit trail data, and brokerage records.
• Conducted domestic and international cash flow analysis using bank records, Fedwire data, and CHIPS data to determine profitability and trace assets.
• Developed evidence through document review, witness interviews, testimony, and online and public records research.
• Prepared sworn declarations in support of emergency asset freezes, temporary restraining orders, and other enforcement actions.
• Built analytical tools, systems, and dashboards that integrated disparate data sources to streamline investigations and help inform the allocation of resources across the Enforcement Division.
• Coordinated parallel investigations and intelligence sharing with USAO, FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, FINRA, and securities regulators around the world.
• Microcap expert for the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) development, the Rule 15c2-11 amendment, the DARPA Memex Project, and the Dark Web Working Group, among other initiatives.
• Co-Chair, Microcap Fraud Working Group (2019–2022), led cross-functional teams to develop investigative strategies, allocate resources, and train staff on microcap fraud investigative techniques.

August 2009 – September 2013

Revenue Officer Internal Revenue Service

• Resolved delinquent tax collection cases by analyzing financial records, tracing assets, and conducting field interviews.