SEC v. Thomas Carter Ronk (boiler rooms, 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 September 2018 the SEC sued investment adviser Thomas Ronk over alleged microcap promotion, a false private offering and price manipulation. On 14 April 2023 the Central District of California entered a consent judgment with an injunction, five-year officer-and-director and penny stock bars and a $75,000 penalty.

The record

Structured fields for this action, as recorded in our case library.
Agency	SEC
Release number	LR-24297
Date filed	2018-09-28
Date resolved	2023-04-14
Court	U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
Status	settled
Asset class	equities
Criminal parallel	No
Bars imposed	officer-and-director bar, penny stock bar, conduct-based injunction
Defendants	Thomas Carter Ronk (individual)
Cited as charged or alleged	Exchange Act s.10(b) and Rule 10b-5 ; Securities Act s.17(a) ; Securities Act s.17(b) (statutes and rules cited in the document; not a finding that they were violated)
Techniques	Boiler rooms , Paid stock promotion

What was ordered

Civil penalty: $75k
Disgorgement: —
Prejudgment interest: —
Total relief: $75k
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 28, 2018 as release LR-24297. The respondents named are Thomas Carter Ronk (1 individual, 0 entities). The action was brought in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.

This library tags the matter as boiler rooms and paid stock promotion, 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: officer-and-director bar, penny stock bar.

A later SEC litigation release shows the case ended in a consent judgment. On 14 April 2023 the court entered a final judgment, to which Ronk consented without admitting or denying the allegations, permanently enjoining him from the charged provisions, barring him for five years from serving as an officer or director and from penny stock offerings, and imposing a $75,000 civil penalty. The release was written about the amended complaint and does not mention disgorgement or a criminal case.

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.

Boiler rooms — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.
Paid stock promotion — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

2018-09-28 Litigation release published
2023-04-14 Final consent judgment entered against Ronk

Primary documents

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

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.

Date filed	Agency	Record	Status
2018-09-28	SEC	SEC v. Thomas Carter Ronk (boiler rooms, 2018)(this record)	Settled
2023-05-22	SEC	SEC v. Thomas Carter Ronk (paid stock promotion, 2023)	Judgment entered

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.

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

Action	Agency	Filed	Technique	Penalty	Status
SEC v. Brian Keasberry (paid stock promotion, 2026)	SEC	2026-08-21	Paid Stock Promotion	$37.5k	judgment
SEC v. Andrew Spaventa and others (boiler rooms, 2026)	SEC	2026-08-17	Boiler Rooms	—	filed
SEBI v. Anupam Narain Gupta and others (paid Telegram tips, Moksh Ornaments, 2026)	SEBI (India)	2026-07-30	Social Media Ramps , Paid Stock Promotion	—	judgment
SEBI v. Veerkrupa Jewellers Limited and others (SME IPO publicity and trading, 2026)	SEBI (India)	2026-05-29	Paid Stock Promotion , Social Media Ramps +1	—	judgment
SEC v. Medallion Financial Corp., Andrew Murstein, Lawrence Meyers, and Ichabod’s Cranium, Inc. (paid stock promotion, 2025)	SEC	2025-06-06	Paid Stock Promotion	$4.1m	judgment
SEC v. John S. Clayton and others (insider trading, 2024)	SEC	2024-12-11	Insider Trading , Paid Stock Promotion	—	filed

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.