ATLANTA (AP) \u2014 A financial adviser in Georgia pleaded guilty Wednesday to wire fraud in a Ponzi scheme that bilked more than 2,000 people out of $380 million, federal authorities announced.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors accused Todd Burkhalter, the founder and CEO of Drive Planning LLC, of marketing several fraudulent investment schemes and using the money in part to buy a $2 million yacht, a $2.1 million condo in Mexico and a motorcoach.<\/p>\n
Burkhalter was represented by the federal defenders\u2019 office. A message to the office after hours on Wednesday was not immediately returned.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said one of Burkhalter\u2019s investment schemes purported to provide short-term loans to real estate developers and promised returns of 10% every three months. According to prosecutors, Burkhalter falsely said those investments were backed by real estate holdings.<\/p>\n
Burkhalter, 54, of St. Petersburg, Florida, encouraged investors to dip into retirement accounts and savings and take out lines of credit. Drive Planning\u2019s former chief operating officer has also pleaded guilty.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese losses will echo through the lives of these victims long after these defendants receive their well-deserved sentences,\u201d said Aaron Seres, a supervisory special agent at the Atlanta-area FBI office.<\/p>\n
As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors plan to recommend a sentence of more than 17 years in prison for Burkhalter, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Theodore Hertzberg said.<\/p>\n
Hertzberg and Seres spokes at a news conference announcing Burkhalter\u2019s plea.<\/p>\n
Hertzberg said a court-appointed official is trying to recover victims\u2019 money by selling Burkhalter\u2019s assets, but it\u2019s highly unlikely that they will get back everything they lost.<\/p>\n
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