Benjamin Wey
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Benjamin Wey | |
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Born | Tianjin, China |
Other names | Benjamin Tianbing Wei, 魏天冰 |
Citizenship | US |
Alma mater |
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Occupation(s) | Businessman, financier |
Benjamin Wey (Benjamin Tianbing Wei,
Wey was indicted in September 2015 on federal charges of
Early life and education
Wey was born in
Career
Wey began his financial career in
In 2000, Wey expanded his base of operations to
By 2012, regulators had stepped up action against certain Chinese reverse-takeover stocks, but according to the
The Blot lawsuit
Wey solicits media attention and bills himself as an expert in U.S.-China trade relations.
Sexual harassment lawsuit
In July 2014, Wey was sued by a former summer intern Hannah Bouveng, who alleged that he was wrongfully fired after he reported that another employee was "repeatedly and consistently” the subject of "disgusting and degrading quid pro quo sexual harassment". The intern filed an $850 million lawsuit against Wey's company. Law360 quoted Wey as saying that the lawsuits were "frivolous" and "an extortion attempt."[29] The trial which took place in June 2015 ended with the jury awarding Bouveng $18 million—$2 million in compensatory damages and $16 million in punitive damages, primarily for defamation by Wey, NYGG, and its subsidiary FNL Media who publish TheBlot. The allegations of assault and battery were rejected by the jurors.[36][37] In April 2016, the award was reduced to $5.6 million by a Federal District Court judge.[38][39] Wey filed a counterclaim against Bouveng.
In June 2018, Bouveng withdrew all claims again Wey. The lawsuit ended in Wey’s favor. In a signed court order, the New York federal judge declared “the Judgment and Amended Judgment are hereby vacated, and shall be null and void and of no force or effect.”
Sources:
https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/assets/db/15453325662133.pdf
Wey's Wall Street offices had been searched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in January 2012 as part of a continuing investigation. According to David Barboza writing in The New York Times, it was the "strongest indication yet" that US federal investigators may have started to probe the advisers and promoters involved in "so-called backdoor listings of Chinese companies."[23][40][41] In September 2015, Wey was charged with eight counts of conspiracy, securities and wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with his reverse merger scheme and involving the companies SmartHeat, Deer Consumer Products, and CleanTech Innovations. Wey was accused of using the offshore accounts to cloak transactions between Chinese operating companies and American shell companies.[42][43] In addition to the criminal charges, the SEC filed a parallel civil lawsuit against Wey which also included as defendants Wey's wife, his sister, and two of his attorneys, all of whom were alleged by SEC complaint to have committed "violations or the aiding and abetting of violations of the antifraud provisions and the disclosure and reporting provisions of the federal securities laws".[13][44]
In a June 2017 order by New York Federal Judge Alison Nathan, all of the evidence seized in connection with the searches conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation was thrown out on Fourth Amendment grounds against unreasonable searches and seizure, ruling that the Department of Justice and FBI's illegal conduct against Wey and his family “reflects, at least, grossly negligent or reckless disregard of the strictures of the Fourth Amendment”.[10][45] The United States Department of Justice voluntarily withdrew the indictment on August 8, 2017 as a result of the court order.[11][12] In September 2017, the SEC dropped its fraud charges against Wey and his wife.[46][47][48]
Lawsuit against NASDAQ
In April 2018, Wey sued the NASDAQ Stock Market and 13 defendants for $659 million. The lawsuit defendants included Michael Emen, Edwards Knight and NASADQ CEO Adena Friedman for malicious prosecution and lying to the SEC, DOJ and FBI with fabricated Nasdaq listing rule violation, which had led to the DOJ indictment and SEC charges against Wey.[49]
Buyout of Sri Lankan Debt
In 2023, it was revealed that Benjamin Wey had bought $250m in Sri Lankan debt and intended to act as a "hold out", making it difficult for Sri Lanka to recover from the
References
- ^ FINRA broker check, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
- ^ a b c d Anderlini, Jamil (26 July 2011). "Made in China, undone in America". Financial Times. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- ^ a b "New York Global Group CEO and China Expert Benjamin Wey Presents at the Carnegie Mellon University US - China Summit -Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship - Carnegie Mellon University". cmu.edu. Retrieved 2014-04-28. (This CMU story is attributed to "New York Global Group CEO and China Expert Benjamin Wey Presents at the Carnegie Mellon University US - China Summit", The Wall Street Journal, April 29, 2013; attributed to PR Newswire, and labelled "The Wall Street Journal news department was not involved in the creation of this content."). Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- ^ CEO of New York Global Group. About, nyggroup.com. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- ^ Huddleston, Tom Jr. (2021-01-30). "What is a SPAC? Explaining one of Wall Street's hottest trends". CNBC. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
- ^ a b c Norton, Leslie P. (18 June 2011). "The Curious Case of New York Global - Barron's". Barron's. Dow Jones & Co. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ^ "6D Global Technologies, Inc. (the "Company") – Staff Delisting Determination" (PDF). sec.gov. 2015-11-20. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-05-03. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
- ^ "New York Law Journal". m.newyorklawjournal.com. Retrieved 2017-06-27.
- ^ Pavlo, Walter. "FBI Searches Of Benjamin Wey Ruled A 4th Amendment Violation". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-06-27.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-06-27.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-08-10.
- ^ ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2017-08-10.
- ^ a b Barbash, Fred (11 September 2015). "Wall Street financier Benjamin Wey charged with securities fraud, money laundering". The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
- ^ "Court orders online tabloid not to post 'any articles about' former Obama nominee to the federal CFTC". The Washington Post. 12 July 2017. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
- ^ Freifeld, Karen (3 March 2017). "Judge lets Georgetown law professor's defamation case against online magazine proceed". Reuters. Retrieved 11 September 2017
- ^ a b Lawrence, Dune (16 March 2016). "The Journalist and the Troll: This Man Spent Two Years Trying to Destroy Me Online". Bloomberg Businessweek
- ^ "Christopher Brummer vs Benjamin Wey (Court Docs)" (PDF). 2018-11-20. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-05-03. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
- ^ Graff, Lloyd (20 January 2010). "An interview with Benjamin Wey; The human bridge between China & America". Today’s Machining World. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- ^ "Gateway to China State company pairs Chinese, U.S. investors | News OK". newsok.com. 2002-02-10. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
- ^ Columbia Business School Directory. "Benjamin Wey". Retrieved 22 October 2019.
- ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
- The Daily Oklahoman. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
- ^ a b David Barboza, "F.B.I. looks into adviser on Chinese reverse mergers", The New York Times Dealb%k, January 27, 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- ^ Scannell, Kara (4 July 2011). "Reverse mergers test US regulators". Financial Times. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- Barron's. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- Archives. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- ^ What to expect from U.S.-China Summit, Wall Street Journal TV, June 6, 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- ^ a b Salmon, Felix (23 November 2010). "Benjamin Wey and the Power of PR : Columbia Journalism Review". Columbia Journalism Review. Columbia University. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ^ a b Gurrieri, Vin (30 July 2014). "Worker Fired For Reporting Harassment At PE Firm, Suit Says - Law360". Law360. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ^ TheBlot Magazine. Author page: Benjamin Wey. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
- ^ Freifeld, Karen (2016-03-04). "Judge lets Georgetown law professor's defamation case against online magazine proceed". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2016-04-23. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
- ^ Volokh, Eugene (2017-07-12). "Court orders online tabloid not to post 'any articles about' former Obama nominee to the federal CFTC". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2017-07-12. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
- ^ Greene, David (2017-09-01). "EFF Calls on New York Court to Vacate Unconstitutional Injunction Against Offensive Speech". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Archived from the original on 2017-09-19. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
- ^ Sloan, Karen (2018-11-16). "Georgetown Law Prof's Injunction Against Antagonist Website Tossed". Law.com. Retrieved 2019-04-16.(subscription required)
- ^ Colhoun, Damaris (2016-06-16). "The shadowy war on the press: How the rich silence journalists". Columbia Journalism Review. Archived from the original on 2016-06-20. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
- ^ Brown, Stephen Rex (16 June 2015). "Former Swedish model was stalked, harassed by boss in person and online, lawyer says in opening of $850M lawsuit". New York Daily News. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
- ^ Ax, Joseph/Reuters (29 June 2015). "N.Y. financier ordered to pay US$18M in sexual harassment, defamation suit". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- ^ "Ex-employee agrees to reduction of sex-harassment payout from Wall Street financier Benjamin Wey". Reuters. 2016-04-08. Archived from the original on 2016-04-11. Retrieved 2019-04-19 – via South China Morning Post.
- ^ Madhani, Aamer (7 April 2016). "American executives' names surface in Panama Papers". USA Today
- ^ Bray, Chad (27 January 2012). "FBI Search Offices of 'Reverse Merger' Player". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ^ Carney, John (26 January 2012). "FBI Raids Chinese Reverse Merger Shop". CNBC. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ^ Hall, Kevin G.; Taylor, Marisa (4 April 2016). "Americans show up in the Panama Papers, too". McClatchy DC. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
- ^ Smith, David (5 April 2016). "200 people in the US exposed for using tax havens in Panama Papers leak". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
- ^ Rapoport, Michael (10 September 2015). "New York Global Group Chief Charged With Securities Fraud". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-06-27.
- ^ Keshner, Andrew. "Regulators drop fraud case against Wall Street perv Benjamin Wey". NY Daily News. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
- ^ Pierson, Brendan (1 September 2017). "U.S. regulators drop fraud case against Wall Street financier Wey". Reuters. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
- ^ Noto, Anthony (1 September 2017). "Regulators dismiss another suit against New York financier Benjamin Wey". New York Business Journal. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
- ^ "Benjamin Wey and NYG Capital, LLC vs Nasdaq Inc..." (PDF). courthousenews.com. 2018-04-09. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-04-18. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
- ^ Wigglesworth, Robin (8 September 2023). "The mysterious 'global financier' suing Sri Lanka". Financial Times.