Pump-and-Dump Fraudster to Repay $2 Million Profit in SEC Suit

A federal appeals court ordered a defendant charged in a pump-and-dump scheme alongside the former CEO of Argus Worldwide Corp. to pay more than $2 million in disgorgement, holding that the SEC wasn’t required to show investors suffered pecuniary harm in its enforcement action.

The unanimous opinion Wednesday by a three-judge panel from the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a federal judge’s order that Ongkaruck Sripetch repay ill-gotten gains from the scheme he ran with ex-Argus CEO Michael Wexler and co-fraudster Brehnen Knight using the company’s penny stock.

The appeals panel said its ruling was consistent ...