The attorneys with the offices of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating customer complaints and The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently filed complaint alleging that Oregon-based investment firm Aequitas Management, LLC (Aequitas Management) and its subsidiaries operated a Ponzi-like scheme that defrauded its 1,500 customers of approximately $350 million.
Upon information and belief, the following firms sold Aequitas notes to clients: CONCERT Wealth Management, Summit Advisor Solutions, LLC, Private Advisory Group, Elite Wealth Management, Integrity Bank & Trust, CliftonLarsonAllen Wealth Advisors (CLA Wealth Advisors), and Innovator Management LLC.
The SEC also alleged that the top three executives of Aequitas Management – CEO Robert Jesenik (Jesenik), executive vice president Brian Oliver (Oliver) and chief operating officer N. Scott Gillis (Gillis) were aware as early as 2014 that constraints in the company’s cash flow would make it difficult to meet existing obligations but continued to raise money anyway based on false premises in order to prop up the company.