The SEC filed settled charges against Ryan Cole, a trader at a financial firm, for allegedly conducting a manipulative trading scheme through which he obtained approximately $234,000 in ill-gotten gains. The scheme involved placing fake - or "spoof"- orders to manipulate the prices of thinly-traded options, and then executing different orders at the resulting manipulated prices. Cole’s alleged scheme included placing multiple spoof orders across neighboring options series. The SEC's order noted that the spoof orders were non-bona fide orders that he did not intend to execute—instead, they were designed to induce other market participants to trade these securities at manipulated prices. To facilitate desired executions across these series, Cole used the complex order book to place multi-leg immediate-or-cancel orders. After his immediate-or-cancel orders were executed, Cole then cancelled his spoof orders. The SEC’s complaint further alleges that Cole took steps to conceal his spoofing scheme from the firm by providing false and misleading responses to questions posed by the firm's Chief Compliance Officer about his trading activity. Ultimately, Cole was terminated by the firm. Cole was ordered to pay more than $350,000 in disgorgement and penalties and agreed to a 5-year trading ban.