The Department of Justice has launched a compensation fund for victims of a sophisticated pump-and-dump scheme that allegedly bilked investors out of millions through coordinated market manipulation of Chinese Liberal Education Holdings (CLEU) stock.
The scheme, which ran from November 2024 to February 2025, involved seven individuals who have been indicted on fraud charges. According to authorities, the perpetrators — five Malaysians and two Taiwanese nationals — posed as U.S.-based investment advisors on social media, artificially inflating CLEU’s stock price before selling their own shares at a massive profit.
“This was a coordinated act of both social and market manipulation,” the Justice Department stated. “The defendants allegedly made millions by setting a trap for unsuspecting investors, many of whom lost their life savings.”
$200+ Million Recovered for Victims
In what officials are calling a rare victory for fraud victims, the U.S. Attorney’s Office successfully recovered more than $200 million in assets traceable to the scheme in May 2025. These funds are now being made available through the newly established CLEU remission fund.
“Despite the overwhelming manipulation as alleged in this case, this serves as one of the premier FBI investigations in which the federal government was able to successfully recover victims’ hard-earned money before it disappeared into overseas bank accounts,” authorities noted.
The scheme’s mechanics were deceptively simple. The suspects allegedly coordinated their activities to “misleading[ly] promote and coordinate trading” of CLEU stock, causing “the stock price to artificially rise, at which point the defendants sold thousands of shares and made millions of dollars in profits.”
How to Claim Compensation
Victims seeking compensation can now file petitions for remission through an official process administered by Kroll Settlement Administration, which has been retained as the Remission Administrator for the fund.
Affected investors don’t need to pay anything to participate — a crucial detail, as fraud victims are often targeted by secondary scams promising to help recover losses for a fee. The DOJ has established CLEUremissionfund.com and a toll-free number (1-833-754-8247) for those seeking to file claims.
“The large forfeiture order of more than $200 million should serve as a warning that federal law enforcement will aggressively pursue fraudulent profits from those who seek to prey upon investors by manipulating the U.S. stock market,” officials warned.
Who’s behind this elaborate scheme? According to reports, all seven individuals charged in the case remain at large, highlighting the challenges authorities face in prosecuting international financial crimes.
Pattern of Investor Fraud
This case, while significant, represents just a fraction of the financial fraud landscape. Since 2000, the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section has returned more than $12 billion in forfeited assets to victims of crime.
“This elaborate fraud scheme boasting bogus profit potentials has caused extensive harm to unsuspecting Americans,” the FBI noted. “The FBI will continue to work with our partner networks to ensure that justice is served against anyone who seeks to weaponize financial systems to gain personal profit.”
For the victims — many of whom reportedly lost significant portions of their retirement savings — the establishment of the remission fund offers a rare glimmer of hope in what typically ends as a financial dead-end for those caught in sophisticated investment scams.
“As alleged in the indictment and forfeiture complaint, the defendants defrauded U.S. investors through deceitful and coordinated trading activities,” said prosecutors handling the case. “Our attorneys and staff in this case placed a high priority on recovering funds for victims.”
