Securities Lawyers Blog
The securities lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating potential recovery options concerning an investment fraud scheme recently enjoined by the the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC recently announced it obtained a court order halting an ongoing Ponzi-like scheme conducted by Kevin B. Merrill (Merrill), Jay B. Ledford (Ledford) and Cameron Jezierski (Jezierski) that raised more than $345 million from over 230 investors. Investors dealt with the defendants entities including Global Credit Recovery, LLC (Global Credit Recovery), Delmarva Capital, Rhino Capital, DeVille Asset Management, and Riverwalk Financial Corporation.
The SEC alleged that Merrill, Ledford and Jezierski, from at least 2013 through the present, through the web of entities they control have offered and sold investments relating to consumer debt portfolios, claiming to generate significant profits through their expertise in collecting on and reselling consumer debt. However, the SEC found that in nearly every interaction with investors Merrill and Ledford misled investors about what they would do with the raised money. The SEC found that the defendants made false statements, fabricated nonexistent debt portfolios, created fake wire transfers and contracts, and founded shell companies meant to mimic legitimate companies. The SEC claimed that instead of purchasing debt as promised, investor money was largely used investor money to fund the defendants’ lavish lifestyles and prop up the scheme with Ponzi-like payments to other investors.