Values Frozen for Years and Investors 'in Limbo': Receiver Appointed After SEC Settles With Repeat-Offender Fund Manager

Published Oct. 12, 2026. Case statuses are current as of that date. This article is based only on documents published by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

For years, investors in four funds run by a New York investment adviser kept hearing that liquidation was almost done and their money would soon come back. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, that was never reasonably true, and the funds' reported values hadn't moved in years.

On Sept. 18, 2026, the SEC charged SQN Capital Management LLC and its president, CEO, chief compliance officer and majority owner, Jeremiah Silkowski. The defendants agreed to settle, and on Oct. 8, 2026, the court entered consent judgments against them and an order appointing a receiver for the funds SQN Capital managed [1].

Important: Silkowski and SQN Capital consented without admitting the complaint's allegations [1]. The judgments are court orders, but they are not findings that the allegations are true.

What the SEC alleged

According to the SEC [1], from at least 2019 through 2025 Silkowski and SQN Capital repeatedly breached their fiduciary duties to four investment funds by:

• Skipping required financial statements. The funds' governing documents required annual audits. The SEC says the defendants didn't hire an accounting firm to audit the funds and didn't even prepare unaudited annual statements that followed generally accepted accounting principles.
• Valuing the assets themselves. Investors were told an independent valuation expert prepared asset valuations. The SEC alleges Silkowski prepared them alone.
• Freezing values. Instead of applying fair-value principles as required, the SEC alleges, Silkowski "simply kept the net asset values unchanged for years," regardless of projected cash flows, deteriorating markets, the assets' actual performance, or even whether a fund still held a given asset. The SEC says he materially inflated the values.
• Misleading investors about liquidation. The complaint alleges Silkowski repeatedly claimed, without a reasonable basis, that liquidation would soon be completed, without disclosing that market conditions prevented asset sales and that SQN lacked the resources to finish. The release says liquidation has run well past the deadlines in the fund documents, "leaving investors in limbo and without access to their funds."

A repeat offender, the SEC says

The SEC describes SQN Capital and Silkowski as recidivists. According to the release, the Commission charged SQN Capital in settled administrative proceedings in 2020 and again in 2023 with violating the custody rule and the compliance rule, both arising from failures to deliver audited financial statements to fund investors. Silkowski was charged in the second proceeding with aiding and abetting and causing those violations. The SEC says the same failures continued [1].

The settlement

Without admitting the allegations, the defendants consented to [1][3][4]:

• an order appointing a receiver to liquidate the assets of the funds managed by SQN Capital and distribute the net proceeds to investors;
• final judgments permanently enjoining both defendants from the charged violations;
• a $200,000 civil penalty against Silkowski; and
• a permanent bar on Silkowski acting as or associating with an investment adviser, broker or dealer, except as the receiver finds necessary for him to help the receiver carry out its duties.

The case is SEC v. Jeremiah Silkowski and SQN Capital Management LLC, No. 1:26-civ-08162, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The release does not mention a parallel criminal case [1].

Why fund valuations matter

In private funds, investors usually can't look up a market price. They depend on the manager's reported net asset value (NAV) to know what their stake is worth, and those numbers can also affect fees. Audits and independent valuations are the main safeguards. When a manager skips audits and sets values personally, investors lose their best way to spot trouble.

Note: The SEC complaint PDF did not convert to readable text for our review, so the description of the allegations comes from the SEC's litigation release.

What a consent judgment means

This is a civil case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, not a criminal prosecution. The SEC cannot send anyone to prison; it asks a federal judge for orders such as injunctions, repayment of allegedly ill-gotten gains (called disgorgement), interest on that money, civil penalties and industry bars.

A consent judgment is an order a judge has signed after the defendant agreed to its terms. In SEC settlements, defendants typically agree without admitting or denying the allegations. The judgment is binding and enforceable, but it is not a finding by a court that the allegations are true and it is not a criminal conviction.

Red flags to watch for

• Missing audited financial statements, year after year.
• NAVs that never change, even when markets do.
• "Independent" valuations you can't confirm were done by an outside firm.
• Repeated promises that payouts are "almost done."
• Prior regulatory history. Check the adviser's Form ADV and disciplinary record at Investor.gov.

What to do if you invested

1. Keep every record: account statements, promissory notes, subscription agreements, emails, texts, wire confirmations and screenshots of websites or videos.
2. Report it to the SEC at sec.gov/tcr. If you invested in a fund managed by SQN Capital, watch for communications from the court-appointed receiver, whose appointment order is linked in the Sources below. Verify any contact against the court filing before sharing personal or account information.
3. Check who you are dealing with. Before investing, search the person and firm on the SEC's Investor.gov adviser search and FINRA's BrokerCheck.
4. Beware of "recovery" offers. People who lost money in investment frauds are often contacted by scammers who promise to recover it for an upfront fee. Government agencies and court-appointed receivers do not charge victims to file claims.

Case status (as of Oct. 12, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 12, 2026	Source
Jeremiah Silkowski	U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y. (No. 1:26-civ-08162)	Consent final judgment entered Oct. 8, 2026, without admitting allegations: injunction, $200,000 penalty, permanent industry bar (with receiver-assistance exception)	[1], [3]
SQN Capital Management LLC	Same	Consent final judgment entered Oct. 8, 2026; receiver appointed to liquidate managed funds	[1], [4]

Statuses can change. An SEC complaint contains allegations, and a settlement without admitting or denying them is not a finding of wrongdoing.

Sources

1. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Litigation Release No. 26671, "SEC Charges Fund Manager with Recidivist Violations of the Advisers Act in Settled Action," Oct. 9, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-26671
2. SEC complaint, SEC v. Jeremiah Silkowski and SQN Capital Management LLC, No. 1:26-civ-08162 (S.D.N.Y. filed Sept. 18, 2026). https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/complaints/2026/comp26671.pdf
3. Final Judgment as to Jeremiah Silkowski (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 8, 2026), linked from Litigation Release No. 26671. https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/litreleases/2026/judg26671-silkowski.pdf
4. Order Appointing Receiver (S.D.N.Y.), linked from Litigation Release No. 26671. https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/litreleases/2026/order26671.pdf

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