Recent Investment Fraud case in Georgia

David Bradford, the former Chief Operating Officer of Drive Planning LLC (“Drive Planning”), pled guilty last month to conspiracy to commit wire fraud arising from a multi-year Ponzi investment fraud case that defrauded investors out of millions of dollars. A SEC complaint was also filed against Jacqueline and Russell Todd Burkhalter. The SEC complaint details that promises of investment gains were built on lies. Drive Planning and its officers did not have any legitimate business operations capable of generating the returns they touted. Instead, they used new investor funds to pay earlier investors in classic Ponzi scheme fashion. The defendants in the case, it was alleged, used the funds to fund an extravagant lifestyle, including purchasing a $3.1 million yacht, spending $4.6 million on private jets and luxury car services, and acquiring a $2 million luxury condo.

An Indianapolis broker is also being charged with securities fraud and investment fraud by the SEC in relation to Drive Planning LLC, and its alleged $300 million Ponzi scheme. Gerardo “Gerry” Linarducci, a former Managing Partner of Drive Planning and head of its Indiana branch office, was charged on Dec. 19.

It is alleged that from late 2021 until in or about June 2024, Drive Planning, a Georgia based financial advisory group, marketed several investments, including the “Cash Out Real Estate Fund,” or “CORE Fund,” as “easy and simple,” advising prospective investors that the fund provided “100% Passive Income from Tax Liens.” Drive Planning guaranteed investors a return of 10% every six months or a 22% return per year for up to three years. Drive Planning further materially misrepresented that investors’ contributions to the CORE Fund were pooled together, government-protected, and fully collateralized. As part of the scheme, Bradford created a marketing brochure to promote the CORE Fund, which was shared with Drive Planning’s sales agents to solicit investors. 

In actuality, the investors’ monies were being used for other purposes, including to pay off other Drive Planning investors, make commission payments to Drive Planning’s agents, and pay for personal expenditures. Bradford and others at Drive Planning further concealed the scheme to defraud by failing to disclose that Drive Planning did not invest any funds in the CORE Fund after approximately December 9, 2022. To the contrary, even after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began investigating Drive Planning in approximately March 2024, Bradford and others continued to solicit investments for the CORE Fund. In total, Drive Planning received at least $4.1 million from CORE Fund investors.

In August 2024, the SEC obtained a temporary restraining order against Drive Planning and filed separate civil enforcement actions against Drive Planning and others in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia related to the above-described scheme. 

We Can Help

Conaway & Strickler, PC has vast experience representing those who are facing charges from the SEC and the DOJ and we are equally adept at representing victims of investment fraud. We pursue all available legal avenues to recover your lost investments. Contact us should you need representation.