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by Mike Caswell

New York prosecutors have asked a judge to impose a $1.8-million restitution order on Christopher Castaldo, a stock tout who was part of the Forcefield Energy Inc. fraud. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) The penalties will be on top of any jail time that he receives. Prosecutors say that the figure reflects his level of involvement in the scheme, which caused total losses of $30.1-million.

The request from prosecutors comes as Mr. Castaldo awaits sentencing for helping the Canadian architect of the Forcefield fraud, Richard St. Julien. According to the government, Mr. St. Julien masterminded a manipulation that boosted Forcefield to a $7.54 high. Most investors suffered catastrophic losses after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission halted Forcefield on April 21, 2015, citing a possible manipulation in progress. Mr. Castaldo's role in the manipulation included accepting undisclosed cash and share payments to tout the stock to customers of a newsletter that he ran, the Wall Street Buy Sell Hold. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud on March 10, 2017.

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