Feds looking for fugitive known as 'The Bull' who sought to sell inside information on stocks

Feds are hunting Greek fugitive known as The Bull who create a Dark Web marketplace where he sold insider stock information for $300 a month

Federal authorities say they are seeking the mastermind behind a Dark Web marketplace for insider stock information, known as The Bull
U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said Apostolos Trovias, 30, of Athens, is charged with securities fraud and money laundering
They said he's sold inside information on stocks since December 2016, when he registered a 'Dark Web' internet site known as AlphaBay Market
Trovias would then charge individuals $99.95 weekly or $299 monthly subscriptions to get access to inside information on stocks
The 'Dark Web' is an area of the internet where identities are hidden, allowing users to sell various illegal products such as drugs and stolen identities

Published: 14:32 BST, 11 July 2021 | Updated: 22:13 BST, 11 July 2021

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The mastermind behind a Dark Web marketplace for insider stock information, known as The Bull, is being hunted by the feds.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said federal authorities are seeking Greek fugitive Apostolos Trovias, 30, of Athens, who is charged with securities fraud and money laundering.

'The FBI operates within the Dark Web too, and as Trovias learned today, we don't stop enforcing the law just because you commit federal crimes from behind a router with your keyboard,' said William F. Sweeney Jr, head of New York's FBI office.

Trovias has sold inside information on stocks since December 2016, when he registered a Dark Web internet site known as AlphaBay Market, according to an unsealed 34-page criminal indictment.

AlphaBay charged individuals $99.95 weekly or $299 monthly subscriptions to get access to inside information on stocks.

Federal authorities unsealed a criminal indictment against 30-year-old Apostolos The Bull Trovias on Friday, charging him with securities fraud and money laundering

The Dark Web is an area of the internet where hidden identities flourish, allowing individuals to set up marketplaces for various illegal products and services such as illegal drugs, stolen identities, human trafficking, prostitution, child porn, and computer hacking.

The site only operated for about six months but Trovias then began using encrypted messaging and email services to communicate with customers, authorities said.

Among information Trovias sold was a pre-release earnings report misappropriated from a publicly traded company, they said.

Strauss said in a release that Trovias tried to hide his insider trading scheme behind anonymizing software, screen names, and Bitcoin payments.

Federal authorities said in a release that Trovias tried to hide his insider trading scheme behind anonymizing software, screen names, and Bitcoin payments

Authorities say Trovias had created a business model so he could sell steal and sell inside information while hiding his footprints, according to Sweeney Jr.

The Securities and Exchange Commission brought civil charges against Trovias on Friday in Manhattan, saying Trovias told an Internal Revenue Service agent posing online as a customer that some information he obtained was 'sensitive and more importantly illegal to use or share.'

The SEC said some of the over 100 customers Trovias signed up for subscriptions were undercover agents of the IRS and FBI.

The SEC said Trovias agreed online last August to meet with two FBI agents posing as customers. When the FBI agents said they were based in the United States, Trovias said he was too, the SEC said.