F
ormer investment adviser Tom Vukota, now living in the Bahamas, and his Greenwood Village‑based firms—Vukota Capital Management and VCM Global Asset Management—have agreed to pay $9.7 million to settle SEC claims that he misled investors. The firms, founded in 2010, acquired dozens of apartment buildings and hotels, including Denver’s Miramar Apartments and Stratford at Lowry.

    In 2021, Vukota and VCM operated 14 separate funds, each holding a single apartment building. Four of those funds owned high‑performing Colorado Springs properties—Villages at Woodmen, Chestnut Springs Apartments, Wind River Place, and Residence at Austin Bluffs. In February and March 2021, Vukota bought out the other investors’ shares in these funds.

    The SEC says the buy‑out letters were misleading, omitting material facts and failing to disclose that Vukota himself was purchasing the interests and that the funds were poised to generate millions in profit. He also falsely claimed the apartments were operating at a loss and did not provide investors with favorable appraisals. As a result, the SEC estimates Vukota obtained roughly $5.6 million in ill‑gained proceeds by acquiring shares at depressed prices.

    The agency’s lawsuit also accuses Vukota of making the funds lend money to VCM at below‑market rates without informing investors and of falsely asserting that the funds had been audited. The settlement reached with Vukota and his firms does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing; it merely requires a $9.7 million payment to the government. Vukota’s attorney, Sam Lieberman of the Sadis firm, declined to comment.