Steve M. Bajic et al.

Opened at stage filed

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 26583 / July 10, 2026 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Steve M. Bajic et al. , No. 20-cv-00007 (S.D.N.Y. filed Jan. 2, 2020) SEC Settles Litigation with Individual Charged in Microcap Fraud Scheme On July 7, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a consent and proposed final judgment as to defendant Steve Bajic in a previously-filed action against 15 defendants alleging a fraudulent microcap scheme. The Commission’s complaint , filed on January 2, 2020, alleged that Bajic, a citizen of Canada and Croatia, worked with Rajesh Taneja to help undisclosed public company insiders or control persons secretly sell large quantities of microcap stock. The complaint alleged that Bajic and Taneja used a network of foreign companies they controlled to buy and sell that stock in order to conceal the ownership interest of numerous companies’ control persons. According to the complaint, Christopher McKnight used business bank accounts he controlled to conceal the sources of funds used to pay for related stock promotions. Bajic consented to the entry of a final judgment enjoining him from violating Sections 5(a), 5(c), 17(a)(1) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 10(b), 13(d) and 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5(a) and (c) thereunder. The judgment orders Bajic to pay $837,734 in disgorgement, which will be deemed satisfied by the forfeiture judgment entered against Bajic in a parallel criminal case, United States v. Bajic , No. 23-cr-10306 (D. Mass), and imposes a penny stock bar against him. The Commission also notified the court that it would not seek a civil penalty as part of the bifurcated judgment previously entered against Rajesh Taneja in 2021. On September 27, 2023, the court entered a final judgment by consent as to McKnight, which enjoined him from violating and aiding and abetting violations of Sections 5(a), 5(c), 17(a)(1) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rules 10b-5(a) and (c) thereunder and ordered him to pay disgorgement of $985,044, prejudgment interest of $164,082, and a civil penalty of $75,000. In 2020 and 2021 , the court previously entered final or bifurcated judgments by consent as to five individual defendants and final default judgments as to nine entity defendants. The SEC’s ongoing litigation is being handled by Kathleen Shields in the SEC’s Boston Regional Office. Resources <ul class="field