Today the Department of Justice announced the launch of the CLEU remission fund to compensate victims of an alleged “pump-and-dump” investment fraud scheme that resulted in charges against seven individuals.
“This was a coordinated act of both social and market manipulation,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The defendants allegedly made millions by setting a trap for unsuspecting investors, many of whom lost their life savings. Today’s announcement demonstrates the Department’s commitment to use forfeiture remedies to take the profit out of crime and to compensate victims as quickly as possible.”
“As alleged in the indictment and forfeiture complaint, the defendants defrauded U.S. investors through deceitful and coordinated trading activities,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros for the Northern District of Illinois. “Our attorneys and staff in this case placed a high priority on recovering funds for victims. The large forfeiture order of more than $200 million should serve as a warning that federal law enforcement will aggressively pursue fraudulent profits from those who seek to prey upon investors by manipulating the U.S. stock market.”
“Despite the overwhelming manipulation as alleged in this case, this serves as one of the premier FBI investigations in which the federal government was able to successfully recover victims’ hard-earned money before it disappeared into overseas bank accounts,” said Special Agent in Charge Douglas S. DePodesta of the FBI Chicago Field Office. “This elaborate fraud scheme boasting bogus profit potentials has caused extensive harm to unsuspecting Americans. The FBI will continue to work with our partner networks to ensure that justice is served against anyone who seeks to weaponize financial systems to gain personal profit.”
According to the allegations in a March 2025 indictment in the Northern District of Illinois , from Nov. 2024 to Feb. 2025, seven individuals allegedly engaged in a “pump-and-dump” scheme whereby individuals in China posing as U.S.-based investment advisors on social media and messaging platforms falsely promised significant returns from investments in CLEU, a company that purported to provide educational services in China. The false and misleading promotion and coordinated trading caused the NASDAQ-listed stock price to artificially rise. The defendants then sold thousands of shares and made millions in profits. The stock price ultimately decreased significantly, at the expense of other investors, some of whom lost almost the entirety of their investment. CLEU has since been delisted from NASDAQ. The defendants are not in custody and warrants have been issued for their arrests.
In May 2025, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois civilly forfeited over $200 million in assets traceable to the CLEU scheme. These funds are now available to compensate victims for their eligible losses. The department has retained Kroll Settlement Administration (Kroll) to serve as the Remission Administrator for this matter.
Victims who incurred financial losses related to the CLEU scheme may be eligible for remission payments from the forfeited assets. The Remission Administrator has established an official website at https://www.CLEUremissionfund.com/