Benjamin Wey’s charges dropped based on evidence ruling

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have dropped charges against financier Benjamin Wey in the wake of a judge’s ruling suppressing evidence found at his home and office.

Wey was indicted in 2015 on stock manipulation charges. But U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in June ruled that the search warrant used by the FBI was overly broad and agents had seized materials including drug prescriptions and family members’ X-rays.

Prosecutors in a filing on Tuesday afternoon said, “The Government sought charges in this matter based in significant part on materials seized during those searches. Because the government can no longer rely on that evidence at trial, . . . the Government has decided to dismiss charges.”

Wey’s New York Global Group was known for using reverse mergers to help Chinese companies gain access to U.S. trading markets.

In 2015, in a high-profile civil trial, a Swedish woman who had worked for Wey won a $5.6 million sexual harassment verdict against him.