Litigation Releases (Ozy Media, Inc.)

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No.26506 / March 24, 2026

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Ozy Media, Inc., et al., No. 1:23-cv-01424 (E.D.N.Y. filed Feb. 23, 2023)

SEC Obtains Final Consent Judgments as to Former Ozy Media Executives

On March 18, 2026, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered final judgments as to former COO of Ozy Media, Inc., Samir Rao, and its former Chief of Staff Suzee Han, resolving the Commission's litigation against them.

The SEC's complaint, filed on February 23, 2023, alleged that four defendants raised approximately $50 million from investors through repeated misrepresentations concerning Ozy Media's financial condition, business relationships, and fundraising efforts. As alleged, Rao provided prospective investors with false financial information that vastly inflated Ozy Media's annual revenue by at least 100 percent annually from 2018 through 2020 and Han helped to prepare and disseminate these false statements to investors.

The final judgments permanently enjoin Rao and Han from violating the antifraud provisions of 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 final judgment as to Rao also imposes a three-year bar prohibiting him from acting as an officer or director of any public company, modified from the ten-year bar that had been previously imposed on March 14, 2023.