An unregistered advisor with the moniker of “Dr. Money” was sentenced to 3 years for fraud, stealing thousands and thousands in victims’ funds, in line with the Justice Division.
Terrence Chalk beforehand pleaded responsible in Could 2024 to funding adviser fraud (although he by no means registered with the Securities and Alternate Fee). In line with U.S. Legal professional for the Southern District (and former SEC Chair) Jay Clayton, Chalk exploited “shared ethnic or spiritual backgrounds to construct false belief.”
“Defrauding retirees, utilizing the frequent bond of religion to construct belief, is a horrible crime, one which disturbs all New Yorkers,” Clayton stated.
In line with court docket data, in 2017 Chalk marketed a brand new funding fund utilizing the alias “Terrence Money” or “Dr. Money,” touting himself as “the nation’s No. 1 enterprise, cash and wealth coach,” providing cash administration and training periods the place he would share “the hidden secrets and techniques of the rich” with shoppers.
Chalk would goal aged buyers, typically holding wealth seminars at Black church buildings the place he would promote himself as a “man of religion” seeking to assist fellow Christians. After hooking potential shoppers, he’d push them to spend money on the purported “Chairman’s Fund,” which he claimed consisted of a number of pooled investments providing quarterly money funds and excessive returns.
Nonetheless, Chalk used an alias to hide that he had been convicted of fraud in 2006.
In line with a previous criticism from the SEC, Chalk based a pc programs firm. When the enterprise hit arduous instances, he submitted mortgage and line of credit score functions naming staff and shoppers as guarantors with out their data (even utilizing the identify of a useless relative). He finally spent greater than six years in jail.
At first, victims who invested within the “Chairman’s Fund” acquired quarterly funds as scheduled, and a few advisable the fund to family and friends. Nonetheless, by the top of 2019, most had stopped getting funds, and Chalk falsely claimed that shoppers had promised they wouldn’t divest for 10 years.
Not one of the $4.8 million Chalk raised from about 26 buyers was invested. As a substitute, Chalk used the funds to pay different entities Chalk managed and repay earlier buyers. He additionally spent about $1.7 million on private bank card payments, $17,000 on NBA season tickets and $74,000 on a BMW.
The DOJ initially charged Chalk in 2020 (when the SEC filed a civil motion). Along with three years in jail, Chalk will serve three years of supervised launch and pay restitution (the quantity of which might be set at a later listening to).
