SEC v. Jeremy Koski (fake press releases, 2023)

Settled

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In September 2023 the SEC charged Hawaii resident Jeremy Koski with posting fake U.S. Bank notices and phony press releases to lift the price of J.C. Penney-backed COTRP securities. He consented to a final judgment dated October 16, 2024 that enjoins him, bars him from penny stock offerings and imposes a $100,000 civil penalty.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$100k

Disgorgement

—

Prejudgment interest

—

Total relief

$100k

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 action on September 1, 2023 as litigation release LR-25820, filing civil action 23-civ-07779 in the Southern District of New York. The defendant is Jeremy Koski (1 individual, 0 entities).

The complaint alleged that Koski, who held a large position in structured securities backed by J.C. Penney debentures and traded over the counter as COTRP, fabricated documents and posted them under different usernames on message boards. In May 2021 he allegedly posted fake notices on U.S. Bank letterhead saying the debentures would be redeemed early at full value, producing a 75 percent price spike. In September and November 2021 he allegedly circulated phony press releases saying COTRP would convert to a cryptocurrency fund and recover its $25 face value. The SEC alleged he knew the statements were false and charged violations of Securities Act Section 17(a), Exchange Act Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5.

An earlier version of this record tagged the matter as a social media ramp. The conduct alleged is fabricated notices and press releases, not a promotion campaign, so the tag is now fake press releases.

Outcome: the case proceeded in the District of Hawaii under a new number, 1:24-cv-00105. The court's final judgment, dated October 16, 2024, was entered on Koski's consent, without admitting or denying the allegations except as to jurisdiction. It permanently enjoins him from violating the antifraud provisions, permanently bars him from participating in a penny stock offering and orders a civil penalty of $100,000. The judgment orders no disgorgement.

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. 2023-09-01 Litigation release published
2. 2024-10-16 Final judgment by consent (D. Haw., case 1:24-cv-00105): injunction, penny stock bar, $100,000 penalty

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 Jeremy Koski

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 20, 2026. submit a correction.