The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Hawaii resident Jeremy Koski with securities fraud on charges of rigging a company owned by J..C.Penney Company, Inc.Trading market for structured equity securities backed by certain OTC bonds under the symbol COTRP。

The commission accused Koski of fabricating and anonymously posting false documents on Internet message boards under different usernames in order to increase the trading price of COTRP and increase the value of the large number of shares it holds.。

As alleged in the SEC complaint, in May 2021, Koski posted a false notice on the letterhead of Bank of America, falsely stating that the JCP bonds would be redeemed in full early, causing the COTRP price to soar 75%。

Koski also allegedly falsified and disseminated fake COTRP press releases in September and November 2021, claiming that "COTRP will be the first publicly traded securities fund to convert to cryptocurrency" and that this "cryptocurrency conversion" will "return the fund to its face value of $25 as it opens up a new world of digital currencies."。"

The SEC filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York alleging that Koski violated Section 17 (a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10 (b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5.。The complaint seeks permanent injunctions, conduct-based injunctions, civil fines and fine-priced stock injunctions for future violations of these anti-fraud provisions.。