Securities Fraud: Investment Manager is Accused of Bilking Retired Teacher of $950K, Ex-U. Va Football Player is on Trial in $9M, and Former Investment Adviser Pleads Guilty

Wyoming Investment Manager Indicted for Allegedly Bilking Retired Investor
Tyris D. Maxey has been indicted on multiple counts of wire fraud and he was arrested this week. Maxey, a Wyoming investment manager, owns RB Mister Enterprises LLC. He allegedly convinced a retired school teacher to give him about $950K to invest and then using almost all of the funds on his own expenses.

Meantime, any investments he made with the investor’s money experienced “heavy losses.” Funds that he gave to the investor, which he claimed were returns, were actually the same funds that the teacher had given him to invest.

Maxey pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges of financial fraud.

Ex-College Football Player is On Trial For Bilking 60 Investors
Merrill Robertson, a former University of Virginia football player, is on trial for wire fraud, bank fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy to commit all three types of fraud, and money laundering. According to authorities, Robertson and his former business partner, Sherman Carl Vaughn, bilked 60 investors of more than $9M while they ran Black Bull Wealth Management LLC and Cavalier Union Investments LLC.

According to Vaughn, who last year pleaded guilty to his involvement in the fraud, Robertson solicited the investors whom they targeted. However, rather than using their funds as promised, their money went toward paying back earlier investors and to cover the fraudsters’ own expenses, including mortgage payments, tuition, and vacations.

The prosecution contends that some of the investors lost their retirement money even as they were promised high returns. For example, two of Robertson’s victims, an-ex U. Va. Football coach and his wife, lost their life savings because of the alleged fraud. Vaughn and other co-conspirators who pleaded guilty over their involvement in the scam are witnesses in the criminal securities case against Robertson.

Ex-NY Investment Adviser Pleads Guilty in $3M Wire Fraud Scam
Eric Erb, an ex-Long Island investment advisor, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a $3M scam that bilked 38 investors. According to court documents, between 1/2016 and 2/2017 the former financial investor solicited almost $5.4M from investors. He promised he would abide by their instructions regarding certain investments, including hedge funds, real estate investment trusts (REITs), annuities, retirement accounts, as well as an IPO. Instead, claim prosecutors, Erb put investors’ funds in other types of investments.

Meantime, he sent them fake earning statements that made it appear as if their investments were making them money when instead they were suffering losses. Erb also made unauthorized wire transfers and falsified payee information on checks so he could use investors’ money on certain investments.

As part of his plea deal in the investment fraud case against him, Erb will pay about $5.3M in restitution to investors that were harmed. He will also forfeit $215K from the sale of his former homes, a Porsche, and a large boat.

Securities Fraud Cases
Over the years, Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LTD LLP has worked with investors to recoup their investment fraud losses, including those sustained from broker fraud, investment adviser fraud, senior financial fraud, affinity fraud, and other kinds of securities fraud. Please contact us today so we can help you decide whether you have grounds for a securities claim.

Long Island Investment Adviser Pleads Guilty To Stealing $3 Million From Investors In Wire Fraud Scheme, Justice.gov, August 7, 2017
Investment Manager Indicted on Fraud Charges for Allegedly Swindling Nearly $1 Million from a Retired School Teacher, Justice.gov, August 15, 2017

Ex-business partner and victims testify in former U.Va. football player’s $9 million fraud trial, Richmond Times-Dispatch, August 16, 2017

SEC Charges Ex-Philadelphia Eagles Football Player With $10M Fraud, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, August 10, 2016