U.S. authorities are accusing a Canadian man of masterminding a manipulation scheme on U.S. markets using traders located in Asia.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Tuesday that it has charged Aleksandr Milrud, a Thornhill, Ont.-based man, with allegedly orchestrating a market manipulation scheme carried out by online traders based in China and Korea that used “layering” tactics to create artificial prices for stocks. The allegations have not been proven.

The SEC brought charges in a complaint filed in federal court in Newark, N.J. And, in a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey also announced criminal charges against Milrud, including one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and one count of wire fraud. He is presumed innocent of the criminal charges.

Milrud, who also has a home in Florida, was arrested there by the FBI today and is to appear in Miami federal court later today.

“Layering is a deceptive practice to trick others into buying or selling a stock at artificially inflated or depressed prices,” said Daniel Hawke, chief of the SEC enforcement division’s market abuse unit. “No matter where they are located, we continue to identify and investigate those whose trading practices threaten to undermine the fair operation of the U.S. securities markets.”

According to the SEC’s complaint, “Milrud inserted numerous middlemen into his scheme in an effort to evade detection”, including using multiple computers, IP addresses, and user names. It says that traders were provided at least two accounts, one to do “the dirty work” of layering, and one to execute trades at prices affected by the work of the first account.

The SEC’s complaint charges Milrud with violating and aiding and abetting violations of anti-fraud provisions of federal securities laws and the SEC’s antifraud rule, and with liability for the conduct of the traders under his management. It is seeking disgorgement of his allegedly ill-gotten gains, plus penalties, and a permanent ban from future violations.

The SEC says its investigation is continuing.