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by Mike Caswell

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has won a $2.9-million judgment against Christopher Bongiorno, an Ohio man charged for touting TSX Venture Exchange listing Petroteq Energy Inc. and another stock. The government claimed that Mr. Bongiorno, using the alias "John Powers," operated call rooms and received illegal kickbacks in the form of undisclosed commissions. He was part of an operation that manipulated thinly traded stocks from 2016 to 2019.

The sanctions are contained in a judgment handed down on Tuesday, April 7, in federal court in Ohio. The $2.9-million includes disgorgement of $2.3-million in gains, plus interest. The judge has also permanently banned Mr. Bongiorno from associating with a brokerage and has imposed a five-year ban on soliciting the purchase or sale of any security.

For Mr. Bongiorno, Tuesday's penalties form just part of his punishment for the scheme. He previously pleaded guilty to a related criminal charge of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and received one year in prison. He recently completed that sentence, with the Bureau of Prisons releasing him from FCI Elkton, a low-security jail in Ohio, on Jan. 16, 2026.

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