Things go from bad to worse for a North Carolina investment advisor charged by federal authorities for scamming clients in a multi-million Ponzi scheme.
According to the Triangle Business Journal, Raleigh-based investment advisor Stephen Peters, already awaiting trial on charges he scammed clients out of some $15 million in a classic Ponzi scheme, was hit with four additional charges on Thursday, including “aggravated” identity theft, conspiracy to make false statements and documents and falsifying documents during a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation.
In the original charges filed in December, Peters is accused of selling at least $15 million in promissory notes for his investment firm, VisionQuest Capital, to clients of his wealth management firm, VisionQuest Wealth Management. “Investors were allegedly promised returns of 8 to 9 percent over the succeeding five years in what Peters allegedly characterized as a “low-risk” investment. He is alleged to have fabricated false records and gave false testimony to the Securities and Exchange Commission when they began looking into what he was doing with the proceeds.
Prosecutors say he didn’t invest the money in a revenue-generating business, but stole much of it to pay off obligations to other investors and toward personal holdings, including a horse farm and a luxury vacation home in Costa Rica.
After getting subpoenas in April of last year, Peters allegedly hired an information technology company to delete various emails containing the word “capital” along with names of certain investors, “wipe” the hard drives and send the machines back to the factory, according to the original indictment.
The original indictment barred Peters from accessing a horse stable he founded called “Whispering Hope Farms,” home to three horses, fire arms, jewelry, a 2014 Cadillac Escalade and several paintings, including one by Italian artist Guido Borelli, according to the Triangle Business Journal.
A SEC lawsuit filed alongside the federal indictment alleged that Peters sold $10.1 million in notes to at least 60 investors, at least 45 of whom were clients of VisionQuest Wealth Management.
