The SEC has busted operators of a prime bank fraud (a type of ponzi scheme) that took in $15 million from at least 220 investors in more than 20 states, primarily Georgia. The operators were Billy W. McClintock, a Florida resident, Dianne Alexander aka Linda Dianne Alexander, a California resident (formerly of Georgia), two entities controlled by McClintock (MSC Holdings USA LLC and MSC Holdings Inc.), and another entity controlled by Alexander (MSC GA Holdings LLC). The firms may be holding investors’ assets, according to the SEC.
Beginning in 2004, investors were told that McClintock was the “U.S. Director” of a secret, exclusive European trust that was empowered to create money and had appointed Alexander as its “U.S. Regional Director.” McClintock and Alexander also told investors that they could receive annual interest of 38 percent on loans to the trust, but only if they observed the trust’s strict secrecy requirements.
The SEC alleges that investors’ money was not loaned to the purported trust, which does not exist, but was instead used to pay other investors in order to create the appearance that their investments were performing as promised, and, of course, themselves.
SEC filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia charging McClintock and Alexander with securities fraud and seeking an emergency order freezing the defendants’ assets. The three entities are named as “relief defendants.” The SEC’s investigation is reportedly continuing.
Page Perry is an Atlanta-based law firm with over 170 years of collective experience maintaining integrity in the investment markets and protecting investor rights.