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by Mike Caswell

A U.S. federal judge has acquitted Jonathan Destler and Robert Lazerus, two California men charged for a pump-and-dump with Loop Industries Inc. of Quebec. Prosecutors claimed that the men boosted Loop by convincing an elderly, vulnerable investor to make purchases on the market. Unfortunately for prosecutors, they were unable to convince a jury.

The acquittals for the men are contained in judgments of dismissal filed on Dec. 3, 2024, in federal court in San Diego. The judge has dropped charges of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The ruling is brief and contains no details, but it comes after the case ended in a hung jury.

Prosecutors claimed that the pair were part of a scheme in which they and others, including Vancouver's David Stephens, manipulated Loop Industries in 2017. The men unloaded the stock as it went to an $18 high, realizing $3.2-million in gains, the government said. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) Prosecutors said that the scheme amounted to a pump-and-dump, with the stock price supported by a "concerted effort" to have an elderly investor buy shares.

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