SEC v. Janusz (John) Zukowski and Jerry Samaras (2024)
Settled
Checked against the primary document on October 3, 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 June 2024 the SEC settled with Janusz Zukowski and Jerry Samaras for telling mostly elderly investors they were buying microcap stock at a discount from the issuer when they were buying from Zukowski at a large markup. Together they owe $1,610,482 disgorgement, $436,993 interest and $700,000 in penalties. The case does not concern a reverse merger.
The record
| Agency | SEC |
|---|---|
| Release number | 3-21964 |
| Date filed | 2024-06-13 |
| Date resolved | 2024-06-13 |
| Status | settled |
| Asset class | equities |
| Venue | OTC |
| Criminal parallel | No |
| Bars imposed | penny stock bar, industry-wide association bar (Samaras) |
| Defendants | Janusz (John) Zukowski ; Jerry Samaras |
| Cited as charged or alleged | Exchange Act s.10(b) and Rule 10b-5 ; Exchange Act s.15(a) ; Securities Act s.17(a) |
| Techniques |
What was ordered
- Civil penalty
- $700k
- Disgorgement
- $1.6m
- Prejudgment interest
- $437k
- Total relief
- $2.7m
- Alleged gain
- —
What is alleged to have happened
The Securities and Exchange Commission instituted and settled this proceeding on June 13, 2024 (Securities Act release 11290), without admission or denial by the respondents.
The order finds that between June 2016 and July 2021 Zukowski used a California company where Samaras worked to sell shares of microcaps, including Coffee, Inc. and Sky Century Investment, that his firm Arch Investments had acquired for virtually nothing. Both falsely told investors they were buying at a discount directly from the issuer; in fact investors paid Zukowski far more than he had. Zukowski gained $1,448,349 and Samaras $162,133, and Samaras acted as an unregistered broker.
Zukowski must pay $1,448,349 disgorgement, $393,445 interest and a $600,000 penalty; Samaras $162,133, $43,548 and $100,000. The record showed only Zukowski's figures and a reverse-merger tag that the order does not support; it now shows both respondents' totals and no technique tag. Both were barred from penny-stock offerings and Samaras from association with brokers, dealers and advisers.
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.
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.