WHAT A HEEL: Ponzi Schemer Preys On Elderly
Marietta, GA, elder law attorney Robert P. Copeland, confessed to federal prosecutors in Atlanta that he ran a Ponzi scheme that “siphon[ed] more than $40 million from his unsuspecting clientele,” according to Fulton County Daily Report:
Copeland pleaded guilty to a criminal information (charges filed either prior to or in lieu of a grand jury indictment) charging him with a single count of wire fraud. He is free on $100,000 unsecured bond pending his July 10 sentencing.
In a separate civil action, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Atlanta has secured a permanent injunction ordering Copeland to repay all the money, much of it from retirement accounts, that the attorney stole from his investors. …
Copeland's at least 140 victims, many of them nearing or past retirement age, included two members of his own family and several charities, according to court papers and prosecutors. …
Through estate planning and elder law seminars that Copeland arranged through his law firm, and with the help of six financial planners and investment counselors (all but one of them from Georgia) to whom he paid commissions for referrals, Copeland recruited victims from Georgia, Florida, Texas, Missouri and South Carolina who invested funds with him ranging from a few thousand dollars to more than $1 million, according to court records.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Anand does not expect the sale of properties seized from Copeland to raise enough to repay his victims in full.
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