‘FinTwit’ Influencers Face Charges in $100 Million Scheme

The eighth man, Daniel Knight of Texas, who goes by @DipDeity on Twitter, was charged with aiding and abetting the scheme by promoting and interviewing the others on his podcast, “Pennies: Going in Raw.”

According to the S.E.C., Mr. Knight “also traded in concert with the other defendants and regularly generated profits from the manipulation.”

The PGIR podcast proved popular with new and young investors flocking to a rising market, The New York Times reported in 2021, saying that it ranked among the top 50 business shows downloaded via Apple Podcasts, according to Chartable.

Mr. Knight posted twice a week, right up to Episode No. 224, released on Dec. 7.

His co-host, Mitch Hennessey, 24, who goes by @Hugh_Henne and has more than 235,000 followers on Twitter, was among the seven other men charged, according to court documents.

The other six men are named in court documents as Edward Constantin, 38, of Montgomery, Tex., Perry Matlock, 38, of The Woodlands, Tex., John Rybarczyk, 32, of Spring, Tex., Gary Deel, 28, of Beverly Hills, Calif., Stefan Hrvatin, 35, of Miami, Fla., Tom Cooperman, 34, of Beverly Hills, Calif.