Sam A. Antar

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 25730 / May 19, 2023

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Sam A. Antar, No. 1:19-cv-11527 (S.D.N.Y. filed December 17, 2019)

SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Individual Who Defrauded New Jersey Investors

On May 17, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a final consent judgment against Sam A. Antar, who the SEC previously charged with defrauding investors, many of whom were his friends and acquaintances in a Syrian Jewish community in New Jersey.

The SEC's s complaint, alleged that Antar, of New York, New York, engaged in a fraudulent scheme that deceived numerous investors out of more than $550,000 while claiming he would invest in shares of companies that were not yet public, and then sell those shares to already-identified buyers for a premium in a short period of time. In reality, according to the complaint, Antar never used investor funds to purchase shares of emerging companies, or to make any other investment. Instead, Antar spent investor funds gambling, making gifts to family members, paying for his daughter's wedding, and making Ponzi-like payments to some early investors.

The final judgment permanently enjoins Antar from violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws, Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The judgment also orders Antar to pay disgorgement of $567,000 and prejudgment interest of $88,754, with offsets permitted for amounts Antar pays pursuant to a restitution order in a parallel criminal action.

In a parallel criminal action, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General Division of Criminal Justice filed criminal charges against Antar. On April 22, 2022, Antar pled guilty to certain of the charges and on December 9, 2022, was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $15,000.