SEC v. George Ivakhnik and The Mobile Star Corporation (fake press releases, 2015)

Settled

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The SEC's September 2015 case over fake press releases issued by The Mobile Star Corporation and its CEO George Ivakhnik ended, as to Ivakhnik, in a consent judgment filed on 11 March 2016 in the Southern District of New York. It orders $1,575 in disgorgement, $126.66 in interest and a $150,000 penalty, and bars him as an officer or director. The company's outcome was not read.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$150k

Disgorgement

$1.6k

Prejudgment interest

$127

Total relief

$152k

Alleged gain

—

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced this matter on September 17, 2015 as release LR-23353. The respondents named are George Ivakhnik and The Mobile Star Corporation (1 individual, 1 entity).

This library tags the matter as fake press releases, based on the conduct the regulator describes. Each tag links to a page explaining how that technique works, what statute it engages, and what penalties comparable actions have attracted. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

The conduct is recorded against equities.

Nothing in the regulator's filing has been proven, and the respondents are entitled to the presumption that it has not been. This page will be updated if the matter is resolved, dismissed or withdrawn.

Ivakhnik consented to the judgment without admitting or denying the allegations. It enjoins him from violating Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5, permanently prohibits him from acting as an officer or director of an issuer with registered securities, and orders disgorgement of $1,575, prejudgment interest of $126.66 and a civil penalty of $150,000, $151,701.66 in total. The judgment is the SEC's resolution of its claims against him; I did not read any judgment against The Mobile Star Corporation, so this page does not say how the case ended for the company.

For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary documents linked above. This page summarises the structured record and does not reproduce them.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with one technique in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

• Fake press releases — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2015-09-17 Litigation release published
2. 2016-03-11 Consent final judgment filed as to Ivakhnik (S.D.N.Y.)

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

• SEC litigation release
• Final judgment as to George Ivakhnik (11 Mar 2016)

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Related actions

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.