The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Houston-area businessman with operating a $114 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors, some of whom were told that their money would fund technology to prevent accidents caused by drowsy driving.
The SEC’s case filed in federal court in Houston charged Frederick Alan Voight of Richmond, Texas with defrauding more than 300 investors in multiple offerings of promissory notes issued by two partnerships he owns, F.A. Voight & Associates LP and DayStar Funding LP. While Voight’s latest offering promised investors returns as high as 42 percent a year from loans to small public companies, most of the funds went to pay earlier investors, the complaint alleges. Approximately $22 million of Voight’s allegedly ill-gotten gains remain unaccounted for to date.
“Voight wooed investors with promises of outsized returns and once-in-a-lifetime investment opportunities. But, like all Ponzi schemes, we allege that this one collapsed when Voight couldn’t find enough new money to keep up with his false promises,” said David L. Peavler, Acting Regional Co-Director of the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office.
According to the SEC’s complaint, Voight recently raised $13.8 million that he said would be loaned to a startup named InterCore Inc. to fund its deployment of a “Driver Alertness Detection System,” or DADS. Starting in October 2014, Voight allegedly wrote to prospective investors about a “tremendous” opportunity to help InterCore install the DADS technology into “several million trucks and buses,” which he said was enough for the company to pay the 30 to 42 percent annual interest rates on the promissory notes “many, many times over.”
Voight knew the claims were false because he served on InterCore’s board and was aware that the Delray Beach, Florida public company was financially troubled and had no means to pay back the loans, the complaint alleges. The SEC alleges that Voight used funds from the DADS investors to make Ponzi payments to earlier investors or funneled them to InterCore through two of his other partnerships, Rhine Partners LP and Topside Partners LP. The complaint alleges that InterCore sent the funds to its Montreal-based subsidiary, InterCore Research Canada, Inc., where the funds seemingly disappeared. By routing funds through Rhine and Topside, Voight is alleged to have garnered benefits – including fees and InterCore stock warrants – that he never disclosed to the DADS investors.
The SEC’s complaint charges Voight and DayStar with securities fraud and with conducting unregistered securities offerings. Voight and Daystar, without admitting or denying the allegations, agreed to settle the SEC’s complaint by consenting to permanent injunctions against committing these violations in the future. They also agreed to asset freezes and other emergency relief, and to pay civil penalties and return allegedly ill-gotten gains with interest in amounts to be set later by the court. Voight also consented to being barred from serving as a public company officer or director and to be barred permanently from participating in the offer, purchase, or sale of any security except for his own personal account.
The SEC named F.A. Voight & Associates, Rhine, Topside, InterCore, and InterCore Research Canada as relief defendants for the purpose of recovering any allegedly ill-gotten gains they received from the fraud. F.A. Voight & Associates, Rhine, and Topside have agreed to asset freezes and other emergency relief and to return allegedly ill-gotten gains in amounts to be set by the court. The SEC will litigate its claims against relief defendants InterCore and InterCore Research.