Ponzi Scam

$85M Ponzi Scam Allegedly Defrauded at Least 150 Investors

Published on: May 1, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed fraud charges in an alleged $85M Ponzi scam that may have defrauded at least 150 investors. The defendants in the civil case are Arthur Lamar Adams and his Madison Timber Properties, LLC. Prosecutors have brought a parallel criminal case against Adams charging him with two counts of wire fraud. They contend that Adams’ fraud ran from 2011 through last month and his Ponzi scam involved fraudulently securing over $100M from over 250 investors in at least 14 states.

Adams Allegedly Provided False Information to Investors in the Ponzi scam involving his business Madison Timber Properties.

According to the regulator’s complaint, Adams lied when he told investors that their funds would go toward obtaining and harvesting timber from different land owners. He also promised 12-15% yearly returns. In truth, contends the SEC, Adam’s company did not have harvesting rights and Adams allegedly forged documents, deeds, and cutting agreements. The regulator is accusing Adams and Madison Timber Properties of violating the federal securities laws’ antifraud provisions, making untrue statements and omissions, and committing fraud through their business actions. A court has approved the regulator’s request for an asset freeze

Investment Adviser is Accused of “Ponzi-Like” Scam Involving 50 Investors, Including Friends and Family

Published on: April 18, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed fraud charges against investment adviser Amrit J.S. Chahal, who founded Kane Capital Investment Group, LLC. Chahal is accused of using his company to solicit about $1.4M from about 50 people, some of them friends and family members. Now, the regulator wants a permanent injunction, penalties, and disgorgement.

According to the SEC’s securities fraud complaint, from at least 2/2015, the investment advisor targeted prospective investors by telling them he was a seasoned trader who could make clients “above-market returns” by employing a trading strategy whose risks were low. In truth, contends the Commission, Chahal had no previous substantive experience in the securities industry or in trading securities for others.

Investors gave Chahal their money with the understanding that he would use the funds to buy and sell futures, options, and commodities. He told them they would have to pay a $2.5% yearly fee and a performance-based fee that was 10% of an investor’s returns that went beyond a yearly 30% return rate. Chahal also falsely claimed that Kane Capital employed the most current software to help it garner the “highest possible profit” from every investment, with a focus on choosing investments that were high-yield and low-risk. In truth, said the Commission, the accused investment advisor “traded risky options and margins,” as well as sold and purchased commodities and futures.

Massachusetts Regulator Accuses ARO Equity of $5.8M Ponzi Scam that Bilked Seniors

Published on: March 26, 2018 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin has filed an administrative complaint accusing private equity fund ARO Equity LLC, Timothy James Alcott, and Thomas David Renison of running a Ponzi scam that bilked investors of over $5.8M. Most of their victims were senior investors in their 70’s and 80’s who were allegedly promised 8-12% yearly returns over three-to-five years for their purchase of mostly promissory notes.

According to the Massachusetts Regulator’s complaint, Renison, Alcott, and ARO Equity invested just half of investors’ funds, with most investments made sustaining substantial losses. They allegedly ran their scam out of a trailer park in the city of Peabody despite listing their address at the One International Place Tower in Boston. Meantime, the two men have purportedly paid themselves more than $1M since their alleged Ponzi scam began.

Renison, who allegedly made $710K, was barred from the securities industry by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2014 for promissory note fraud involving a client. He was ordered by a jury to pay a $1.4M judgment in that matter. A criminal charge for conspiring to commit wire fraud was brought against him in a parallel case that was dismissed following his cooperation and testimony against a co-conspirator.

Ex-Financial Adviser Dawn Bennett Faces SEC and Criminal Charges Over Alleged $20M Investor Fraud

Published on: August 28, 2017 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against ex-financial adviser Dawn Bennett accusing her of bilking investors, making Ponzi-like payments, and spending clients’ funds on herself. According to the regulator, Bennett and her DJB Holdings LLC raised over $200M through the sale of notes issued to at least 46 investors by the luxury sports apparel company. Many of her victims were unsophisticated and older investors.

During the sales, Bennett allegedly claimed that the notes were safer than they actually were, as well as that her firm could pay yearly returns of up to 15%. Investors were purportedly told that their money would go toward company use but instead she paid back earlier investors in a Ponzi-like manner and used some of the funds to pay for her expenses. Meantime, contends the SEC’s complaint, Bennett hid the alleged fraud, lied to regulators, used sham promissory notes instead of actual convertible notes, and inflated her net worth.

Now, the Commission has charged Bennett and her company with violations of the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The regulator wants disgorgement, interest, and penalties for the alleged senior financial fraud.