SEC v. Roger E. Dobrovodsky (unregistered distributions, 2021)
Settled
Checked against the primary document on October 2, 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.
In 2021 the SEC settled an administrative order against Roger E. Dobrovodsky for selling unregistered StarGrower offerings as an unregistered broker, with $203,981 disgorgement, $15,802 interest and a $150,000 penalty.
The record
| Agency | SEC |
|---|---|
| Release number | 3-20493 |
| Date filed | 2021-08-30 |
| Date resolved | 2021-08-30 |
| Status | settled |
| Asset class | equities |
| Criminal parallel | Yes: charged (Blankenbaker, the principal of the offerings (not Dobrovodsky); two counts of wire fraud and one of money laundering), 2021-03-31 |
| Bars imposed | officer-and-director bar, penny stock bar |
| Defendants | Roger E. Dobrovodsky |
| Cited as charged or alleged | Advisers Act s.206 ; Exchange Act s.10(b) and Rule 10b-5 ; Exchange Act s.15(a) ; Securities Act s.5 |
| Techniques | Unregistered distributions |
What was ordered
- Civil penalty
- $150k
- Disgorgement
- $204k
- Prejudgment interest
- $15.8k
- Total relief
- $370k
- Alleged gain
- —
What is alleged to have happened
On August 30, 2021 the SEC accepted a settlement with Roger E. Dobrovodsky. The order finds that from August 2016 to May 2019 he acted as an unregistered broker and sold StarGrower Commercial and StarGrower Asset offerings, in violation of Securities Act Sections 5(a) and 5(c), and that he failed to disclose to advisory clients a conflict from a debt owed him by the offerings' principal. He is ordered to pay $203,981 in disgorgement, $15,802 in interest and a $150,000 penalty. The record previously showed $4,924,275 and $272,366, which were a co-defendant's joint figures from another case, and a $50,000 penalty from his earlier federal case.
This library tags the matter as unregistered distributions, based on the conduct the document describes. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.
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 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.
- Unregistered distributions — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.
Timeline
Primary documents
Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.
Related actions
Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.
| Action | Agency | Filed | Technique | Penalty | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEC v. Zachary Miller (unregistered distributions, 2026) | SEC | 2026-03-05 | Unregistered Distributions | — | settled |
| SEC v. David Hudzik (unregistered distributions, 2025) | SEC | 2025-12-23 | Unregistered Distributions | $70k | judgment |
| SEC v. Ongkaruck Sripetch and others (pump and dump, 2025) | SEC | 2025-06-20 | Pump And Dump , Unregistered Distributions | $204k | judgment |
| SEC v. Peter Scalise III and The3rdBevco Inc. (unregistered distributions, 2025) | SEC | 2025-06-17 | Unregistered Distributions | $236k | settled |
| SEC v. Investview, Inc. (unregistered distributions, 2025) | SEC | 2025-01-17 | Unregistered Distributions | $375k | settled |
| SEC v. Tai Mo Shan Limited (unregistered distributions, 2024) | SEC | 2024-12-20 | Unregistered Distributions | $36.7m | settled |