SEC v. Dubovoy et al.: Leonid Momotok guilty plea (hack to trade, 2016)

Settled

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In August 2016 the SEC reported that Leonid Momotok, a defendant in its hacked-press-release case SEC v. Dubovoy, had pleaded guilty in a parallel criminal case. A consent final judgment against him on May 15, 2020 orders $1,387,960 in disgorgement and $6,967.54 in interest, deemed satisfied by his criminal restitution and forfeiture.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

—

Disgorgement

$1.4m

Prejudgment interest

$7k

Total relief

$1.4m

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 on August 4, 2016, as release LR-23610, that Leonid Momotok of Suwanee, Georgia had pleaded guilty on August 2, 2016 before a magistrate judge in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The release says the criminal charges arose from the same conduct alleged in the SEC's civil action SEC v. Dubovoy et al. (D.N.J., filed August 2015), which alleges a scheme of trading on press releases hacked from newswire services. The SEC's civil action against Momotok remained pending, seeking an injunction, disgorgement, prejudgment interest and civil penalties. This record describes that release; it is not a record of a settlement by anyone named Korchevsky.

This library tags the matter as hack to trade, 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 release references a parallel criminal proceeding. Where a criminal case exists, the civil and criminal outcomes are recorded separately, because they resolve on different standards of proof.

The final judgment as to Momotok, filed on May 15, 2020 in the District of New Jersey on his consent, finds him liable for disgorgement of $1,387,960 and prejudgment interest of $6,967.54, which the judgment deems satisfied by orders in the parallel criminal case. SEC release 24833 (June 10, 2020) reports that the court approved settlements with eight defendants in the case, that Momotok and two others had been convicted, sentenced and ordered to pay restitution and forfeit assets. The record's title names Korchevsky, but its only named respondent is Momotok, and this page covers his outcome only; Korchevsky's separate judgment was not read. Checked on 2026-10-04.

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.

• Hack to trade — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2016-08-04 Litigation release published
2. 2020-05-15 Consent final judgment against Leonid Momotok
3. 2020-06-10 SEC reports court-approved settlements in SEC v. Dubovoy (SEC LR-24833)

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 Momotok (May 15, 2020)
• SEC litigation release 24833 (settlements)

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.

Same matter

The library links these 3 records because they appear to concern one matter: the same lead defendant, an overlapping technique tag and close filing dates, or a shared court docket or a release that cites the other. Records are listed by date filed.

This grouping is the library's, made by matching names, techniques, dates and citations when the site is built. It is not the regulator's or a court's determination that the records are one case, and it errs towards missing a link rather than making a false one.

Related actions

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

Record added September 20, 2026. submit a correction.