Wellness Center USA Ex-CEO Andrew Kandalepas Sentenced for 'Marking the Close' Stock Manipulation; Term Later Cut to Time Served

Case from 2019–2021 (U.S. Attorney's Office release: June 13, 2019; later developments are from court records and other sources cited below). Published on Scammers.com Oct. 16, 2026; case status is current as of that date.

Andrew J. Kandalepas, former CEO, president and board chairman of Wellness Center USA Inc., was sentenced on Jan. 16, 2020, to 12 months and one day in prison for manipulating his company's stock price, according to the federal court docket [2]. He had pleaded guilty in June 2019 [1]. On Jan. 8, 2021, the court reduced his sentence to time served, citing his terminal illness and COVID-19, and extended his supervised release to two years, the docket shows.

How the scheme worked

According to Kandalepas's plea agreement, as described by prosecutors [1]:

1. The company: Wellness Center USA, based in Hoffman Estates, raised more than $19 million from investors through stock sales. Kandalepas held more than 3 million shares.
2. Trading to inflate: From December 2012 to June 2015, he bought and sold the company's shares to artificially raise the price.
3. "Marking the close": Many trades came at or near the end of the trading day. In one example, using an acquaintance's brokerage account, he bought 300 shares in the last five seconds of trading on May 4, 2015, raising the price 4%, from $0.27 to $0.28, for a profit of about $30,000.

He netted at least $136,176 in trading profits for his personal use.

The person sentenced

Andrew J. Kandalepas, of Schaumburg, Ill. (67 at plea) [1]

• Plea (June 11, 2019): pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud before U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman.
• Sentence (Jan. 16, 2020): 12 months and one day in prison; judgment entered Jan. 17, 2020 [2].
• Reduction (Jan. 8, 2021): sentence reduced to time served because of terminal illness and the COVID-19 pandemic; supervised release extended to two years.
• Investigation: FBI Chicago, with help from the SEC.

Red flags

• Small, steady price bumps at the very end of the trading day in a thinly traded stock.
• Executives trading through other people's accounts.
• A company that raises millions from investors while its stock trades for pennies on little volume.

What to do if you're targeted

1. Look up insider trading reports (Forms 4) on EDGAR.
2. Be wary of penny stocks whose price moves don't match company news.
3. Report suspected manipulation to the SEC at sec.gov/tcr.

Case status (as of Oct. 16, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 16, 2026	Source
Andrew J. Kandalepas, Schaumburg, Ill.	N.D. Ill. (Judge Feinerman)	Pleaded guilty June 11, 2019; sentenced Jan. 16, 2020, to 12 months and 1 day; reduced to time served Jan. 8, 2021	[1], [2]

We have not found a source on any proceedings after 2021.

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Former Chief Executive of Suburban Nutrition Company Pleads Guilty in Market Manipulation Scheme," June 13, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/former-chief-executive-suburban-nutrition-company-pleads-guilty-market-manipulation
2. CourtListener, docket for United States v. Kandalepas (N.D. Ill.). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/14593338/united-states-v-kandalepas/

---

Corrections and updates: If you are named in this article, or represent someone who is, and believe anything here is inaccurate or out of date (including a dismissal, acquittal, or change in case status), please contact us at editorandchief@scammers.com. We will review it and update the article promptly.