SEC Bars Ejiro Ode Okuma for Fraud and Misappropriation

UNITED ST ATES OF AMERI CA Befo re the SECURITI ES AND E XCHANGE COM MISSION SECURITI ES EXCH ANGE ACT OF 1 934 Relea se No. 104888 / February 25, 2026 INVESTME NT ADVIS ERS ACT OF 194 0 Relea se No. 6947 / Febru ary 25, 2026 ADMINIST RATIVE PROCEE DING File No. 3- 22598 In th e Mat ter o f EJIRO ODE OKUMA, Respo ndent. ORDER I NSTITUT ING ADMINIST RATIVE PROCEEDING S PURSUANT TO SECT ION 15(b) OF THE S ECURITIE S EXCH ANGE ACT OF 1 934 AND SE CTION 203 (f) OF THE INVESTM ENT ADVISERS ACT OF 1 940, MAKI NG FINDINGS, AND IMPOS ING REM EDIAL SANCTIONS I. The Securities and Exchange Commiss ion (“Com mission”) deems i t appro priate and in th e public interest th at public administrative pro ceedings be, and hereby a re, instit uted pursuant to Sectio n 15 (b) o f the Secu rit ies E xchan ge A ct of 1 934 (“Ex chang e Act ”) an d Section 203(f) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (“Advisers Act”) against Ejiro Ode Okuma (“Res pond ent ”). II. In anticipation o f the insti tution of thes e proceedings, Respondent has submitted an O ffer of Settlement (the “Offer”) which the Commission has determined to accept. Solely for th e purpose of these p roceedings and any other p roceedings br ought by or on b ehalf of th e Commission, or t o which the Commi ssion is a part y, Respondent admit s the Com mission’s jurisdiction ov er him and the subject matte r of thes e proceedings, and the findi ngs contained in Section III.2 b elow, and consents to the entry o f this Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings Pursuant to Se ction 15(b) of the Securiti es Exchange Act of 1934 and S ection 203(f) o f the Investment Advis ers Act of 1940, M aking Finding s, and Imposing R emedial Sanction s (“Order”), as set fort h bel ow.

2 III. On the basis of t his Order and Respondent ’s Offer, the Commissi on finds tha t: 1. From 2010 un til May 4, 2 023, Okuma wa s a regi ster ed represe ntative an d investm ent adviser representat ive associated with a brok er - dealer and investment adviser that is registered w ith the Commission. Beginn ing on May 5, 2 023, Oku ma was a r egiste red repres ent ative and i nvest ment adv iser r epr esent ativ e of anot her firm that operated as a bran ch office for a broker - dealer and investment adviser that is re gistered w ith the C ommission. Okuma, 4 3 years old, is a resident of S myrna, Georgia. 2. On February 18, 202 6, a final judgm ent was entere d by consent against Okum a, permanently enjoi ning him from futu re violations of Section 17 (a) (1) of th e S ecuri ties Act o f 193 3 (“Secu rit ies A ct”), S ecti on 1 0(b) o f the Ex chang e Act and Rul e s 10b -5 (a) and (c) thereu nder, an d Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Advisers Act, a s set forth in the judgment entered in the civil action entitled Securities and Exch ange Commissi on v. Ejiro Ode Okuma, Civil Action N umber 1:26 - CV - 561, in the United States Dis trict Court for the Northern District of Georgia. 3. The Commission’s complaint alleged that, between 2022 and 20 25, Okuma misappropriated more than $9 million from an elderly client who relied almost exclusively on Okuma for all fina ncial matter s. In doing so, and whi le acting as an inv estment adviser, Okuma engaged in a va riety of conduct which operated as a fraud and deceit on his client. IV. In view of th e foregoing, the Comm ission deems it appropriate and in the pu blic interest to impose the sanction s agreed to in R espondent Oku ma ’s Of fer. Accordingly, it is h ereby ORDER ED pursuant to S ection 15(b)(6) of the Ex change Act, and Section 20 3(f) of the Adviser s Act, tha t Respon dent Okuma be, and he reby is barred from associ atio n wit h any brok er, deal er, in vest ment adv iser, mun icip al s ecurit ies dealer, mun icip al advisor, trans fer agent, or nation ally recogni zed statisti cal rating organi zation. Any application for reentry by the Resp ondent will be made to the app ropri ate s elf - regulatory organi zation, or if th ere is none, t o the Comm ission by cont acting the Divisi on of Enforc ement ’s Offi ce of Chief C ouns el at E NF - Reentry@sec.gov, and will be subj ect to the applicable laws a nd regulations go verning the reentry proc ess. Reentry m ay be condition ed upon a number of facto rs, including, but not limited to, compliance with the Commissi on’s order and

3 payment of any or all of t he following: (a) any disgorgement o r civil penalti es ordered by a Court against the Respon dent in any action brought b y the Commi ssion; (b) any ar bitrat ion awar d rel ated to the conduct that served as the basis for the Commission order; (c) any s elf - regulator y organization arbitration award to a customer, w hether or not r elated to the conduct that s erved as the basis for the Commission order; and (d) any restitution ord er by a self - regulatory organization, whether or not r elated to the condu ct that serve d as the b asis for the Commi ssion order. By the Commission. Vanessa A. Count ryman Secret ary