SEC v. Morrie Tobin et al. (paid stock promotion, 2018)

Settled

✓ Checked against the primary document on October 4, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, with sampled and disputed records read a second time. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.

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In November 2018 the SEC sued Morrie Tobin and others over an alleged scheme to sell secretly controlled stock in two companies with paid promotion. Tobin, Patel and Ledvina consented to judgments on 16 April 2021 with penny stock bars, and judgments against Quinn and Skriloff on 17 October 2024 imposed $230,464 penalties on each.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$461k

Disgorgement

—

Prejudgment interest

—

Total relief

$461k

Alleged gain

$165m

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 November 28, 2018 as release LR-24361. The respondents named are Morrie Tobin et al. (1 individual, 0 entities).

This library tags the matter as paid stock promotion and undisclosed control blocks, 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.

Non-monetary relief recorded: penny stock bar.

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.

Later SEC releases show the case has ended for the named defendants. On 16 April 2021 the District of Massachusetts entered final consent judgments against Tobin, Milan Patel and Matthew Ledvina, enjoining them and imposing penny stock bars; the release does not state any civil money amounts. All three pleaded guilty in a parallel criminal case, where Tobin received 12 months and a day (recorded here as 12 months) plus $4 million in forfeiture and a $100,000 fine. In 2022 the court entered a judgment against Daniel Lacher totalling more than $479,000, without a breakdown. On 17 October 2024 judgments were entered against Brian Quinn and David Skriloff, each ordered to pay a $230,464 civil penalty, which makes up the $460,928 recorded here. The release does not say whether Quinn and Skriloff consented. Lacher's total is not in the money fields because it is not split into categories.

For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the release.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with 2 techniques 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.

• Paid stock promotion — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.
• Undisclosed control blocks — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2018-11-28 Litigation release published
2. 2021-04-16 Final consent judgments entered against Tobin, Patel and Ledvina
3. 2024-10-17 Final judgments entered against Quinn and Skriloff ($230,464 penalty each)

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
• SEC litigation release LR-25072 (Tobin, Patel, Ledvina)
• SEC litigation release LR-26163 (Quinn, Skriloff)

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 2 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 10, 2026. submit a correction.