Criminal Cases

Former Director of 1 Global Indicted For $250 Million Scam Spanning Nearly All 50 States

Former Director of 1 Global Indicted For $250 Million Scam Spanning Nearly All 50 States

The former director of 1 Global Capital has been indicted for a $250 million securities fraud scam that spanned 42 states. 

According to an official release from the IRS, company chairman Carl R. Ruderman was involved in a "sprawling fraud scheme" that negatively impacted over 3,400 investors nationwide. Four of Ruderman's co-conspirators have already entered guilty pleas.

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Credit: dowell/Getty Images

Former CFO Alan G. Heide, a resident of Lake Worth, Florida, pleaded to a single count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. He was sentenced to 60 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman. Heide was also ordered to pay over $57 million in restitution to victims.

Attorney Andrew Dale Ledbetter, a resident of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud. Judge Altman also sentenced him to 60 months in prison and ordered Ledbetter to pay over $148 million to the group's victims.

1 Global director and consultant Steven Allen Schwartz, a resident of Delray Beach, Florida, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud. Judge Altman put him behind bars for 24 months and ordered Schwartz to pay more than $36 million in restitution.

Finally, Jan Douglas Atlas, a partner at Ledbetter's legal firm and resident of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud. She was ordered by Judge Altman to serve eight months in prison and must pay over $29 million in restitution. 

Per the IRS and the Department of Justice, 1 Global Capital, based in Hallandale Beach, Florida before filing for bankruptcy in 2018, provided the equivalent of "pay day" loans to small businesses at high interest rates. 

The indictment against alleges that to attract investments, Ruderman and others falsely represented 1 Global's profitability in marketing materials and periodic account statements that were given to their investor victims. Allegedly, these individuals were told that 1 Global had audited financials by a public accounting firm and that they could expect "double-digit returns" on their initial investments, among other promises that turned out to be lies.

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Credit: Tom Sowerby/Getty Images

Per court documents, Ruderman, specifically, spent investor money on "credit card payments, [luxury] vacation travel, insurance payments for his art collection and valuable jewelry, drivers, nannies, housekeepers, mortgage payments for his house, tuition, and payments for a luxury car driven by his wife." Additionally, he directed this money to fund other businesses that benefitted his family without disclosing the transactions to the investors.

As early as 2016 -- two years prior to 1 Global's bankruptcy filing -- questions arose about whether the business needed to register with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Allegedly, investors, investment advisors, and regulators all began to look into the company's activities around that time.

This case has been investigated by multiple law enforcement agencies, including the IRS Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI), the FBI, Miami Field Office, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of the Inspector General (FDIC-OIG), Atlanta Region.

Details about whether Ruderman will take a plea deal like his co-conspirators have not yet been publicly announced.

What do you think about this massive fraud case?

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Rebekah Barton

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