George Iakovou, et. al

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 26048 / July 9, 2024

Securities and Exchange Commission v. George Iakovou, et. al, Civ. Action No. 4:22-cv-00194-CDL (M.D. Ga. filed Dec. 7, 2022)

Court Enters Final Judgment Against New York Resident Who Conducted $6 Million Fraud Scheme Against Investors in Georgia, California

On July 8, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia entered a final judgment against George Iakovou, in an SEC case alleging that he raised approximately $6 million from investors in a fraudulent offering of securities.

The SEC's complaint, filed on December 7, 2022, alleged that Iakovou, and his company, Vika Ventures LLC, offered to sell investors shares of private companies that might hold an initial public offering. However, as set forth in the SEC's complaint, Iakovou and Vika Ventures did not own the shares at the time of the solicitations and never acquired them. Rather than purchasing the securities, Iakovou allegedly used investor funds to support his lavish lifestyle. As CEO of Vika Ventures, Iakovou allegedly used fraudulent documentation and statements to convince investors that Vika Ventures was a successful venture capital firm. According to the SEC's complaint, Penelope Zbravos, Iakovou's then-girlfriend, encountered sufficient red flags regarding the company's operations to make her a negligent participant in Vika Ventures.

The court also issued a final judgment against Penelope Zbravos, who previously entered into a consent judgment permanently enjoining her from future violations of Section 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act for her negligent actions. The final judgment imposes disgorgement and prejudgment interest of $1,843,472.09 that has been deemed satisfied by the restitution ordered against her in the parallel criminal case.

The court previously issued a final judgment against Vika Ventures and imposed a penalty of $8,929,120, among other remedies.

The SEC's litigation in this matter is now concluded.

In the parallel criminal case, in August 2023, Iakovou pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. On January 3, 2024, Iakovou was sentenced to 97 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Iakovou was also ordered to pay restitution of more than $5,958,505. Zbravos pled guilty to one count of misprision of a felony and entered into pre-trial diversion agreement.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Allison Rochford and Michelle Bougdanos and supervised by David Frohlich and Carolyn Welshhans. The litigation was led by Allison Rochford and supervised by James Carlson.