US v. Aubrey Lee Price Indictment

8/13/2019 US v. Aubrey Lee Price Indictment

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SC:DCW/JM#2012R01026

- RUNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTEASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

- - - XUNITED STATES OF AMERICA

- aga ins t -

* JAN 2 5 2 13 I N D I C T M E N TCr. No. BROOKLYN OFF C'-'(T. 15, U.S. C., 78j (b)

AUBREY LEE PRICE,?QHQRELSKY afn ji 78ff ; T. 18, u.s.c. ,

IVUJ,981 (a) (1) c ) ,Defendant .

THE GRAND JURY CHARGES:- - - X

982 (a) (2) (A), 1343, 2 and3551 e t seq . ; T. 21,U.S.C. , 853(p) ; T. 28,U.S.C. , 2461(c) )

INTRODUCTIONAt a l l t imes re l evan t to t h i s Ind ic tment , unless

otherwise indica ted:THE DEFENDANT AND RELEVANT ENTITIES

1 . The defendant AUBREY LEE PRICE was an assoc ia t edperson o f an inves tment adv isor loca ted in Georgia . Pr io r to

Case 1:13-cr-00058-SLT Document 3 Filed 01/25/13 Page 1 of 10 PageID #: 9


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( the Brooklyn Clear ing Firm ) , which a l so main ta ined cus tody oft he a s se t s i n the t r ad ing account . Another c lea r ing f i rm basedin New Je r sey ( the New Je r sey Clear ing Firm ) c lea red t r adesplaced in , and maintained cus tody of the a s se t s in , the o thert r ad ing account . The Brooklyn Clear ing Firm and the New Je r seyClear ing Firm prepared and sen t account s ta tements to thosec l i en t s of the Broker-Dealer whose t r ad ing accounts they se rvicedand a l so sen t cus tod ia l s ta tements to the Broker-Dealer .

3. The Montgomery Bank & Trus t ( MB&T ) was af inanc ia l i n s t i t u t i o n l oca t ed in Ailey , Georgia . The depos i t s ofMB T were insured by the Federa l Deposi t Insurance Corporat ion.Sta r t ing in o r about 2011, the defendant AUBREY LEE PRICE was amember of the Board of Direc tors of MB T. PRICE a l so managedMB&T's inves tment por t fo l io .

THE FRAUDULENT SCHEME4. Sta r t ing in o r about June 2009, PFG so l i c i t ed funds



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5. The defendant AUBREY LEE PRICE i nves t ed PFG

inves to r funds in equ i ty s e c ur i t i e s , opt ions and r e a l e s t a t e ,inc lud ing farms in South America. PRICE l o s t inves to r fundsthrough these inves tments . To cover up these lo s ses , PRICE madeava i lab le to PFG inves to r s , through a secure PFG web s i t e ,account s ta tements t ha t f raudu len t ly r e f l e c t e d f i c t i t i o u s a s se t sand inves tment r e tu rns .

6. In o r about 2010, some PFG inves tors purchased aco n t r o l l i n g i n t e r e s t in the holding company t ha t whol ly ownedMB T. Thereaf te r , the defendant AUBREY LEE PRICE was respons ib lefo r inves t ing some of MB T's c a p i t a l . He represented to MB T'ssen io r management t ha t he inves ted MB T's money in Treasurys e c ur i t i e s .

7. From i n o r about and between January 2011 and May2012, the defendant AUBREY LEE PRICE genera l ly d i rec ted MB Temployees to wire more than 21 mil l ion to a t r ad ing account he ld



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inves tors and t rans fe r red some of MB T's funds to o the r accountshe ld by PFG to pay redemptions to PFG inves to r s .

8. The defendant AUBREY LEE PRICE provided MB Tmanagement with account s ta tements fo r the PFG brokerage accounti s sued by the New Je r sey Clear ing Firm, which s ta tements PRICEhad a l t e r e d to crea te the fa l se appearance t ha t the account wasin MB T's name and contained approximately 17 mil l ion in asse t s .PRICE also fabr ica ted , and provided to MB T management, a l e t t e ros tens ib ly from a la rge f inanc ia l s e rv ices f i rm in New York t ha twas a f f i l i a t e d with the New Je r sey Clear ing Firm t ha t f a l s e l yconfirmed the exis tence of , and balance in , an account in MB T'sname.

THE DEFENDANT'S ADMISSION9. On o r about June 18, 2012, the defendant AUBREY LEE

PRICE sen t to family members and bus iness as s o c i a t e s a l e t t e r inwhich he admi t ted t ha t he had c rea t ed f a l s e f i n an c i a l s ta tements



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11. In o r about and between June 2009 and June 2012,both da tes being approximate and inc lus ive , within the Eas te rnDi s t r i c t o f New York and elsewhere , the defendant AUBREY LEEPRICE, t oge the r with o ther s , did knowingly and w i l l f u l l y use andemploy one o r more manipula t ive and decep t ive devices andcon t r ivances , con t ra ry to Rule 10b-5 o f the Rules and Regula t ionsof United Sta tes Secur i t i e s and Exchange Commission, Ti t l e 17,Code of Federa l Regula t ions, Sect ion 240.10b-5, in t ha t PRICE didknowingly and w i l l f u l l y a} employ dev ices , schemes and a r t i f i c e sto defraud, b) make untrue s ta tements o f mater ia l fac t and omitto s t a t e mater ia l fac t s necessary in orde r to make the s ta tementsmade, in the l i gh t of the circumstances in which they were made,not misleading, and c) engage in ac ts , p ra c t i c e s and courses ofbus iness which would and did opera te as a f raud and d ece i t uponMB T and inves to r s in PFG in connect ion with the purchases andsa les of inves tments in PFG, d i r e c t ly and i nd i r e c t l y , by use of



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13. In o r about and between June 2009 and June 2012,both da te s be ing approximate and inc lus ive , wi th in the Eas te rnD i s t r i c t of New York and elsewhere , the defendant AUBREY LEEPRICE did knowingly and i n t e n t i o n a l l y dev ise a scheme anda r t i f i c e to defraud PFG i nves to rs and MB T, and to obta in moneyand proper ty from PFG i nves to rs and MB T by means of mate r i a l l yfa l se and f raudu len t pre t enses , r ep re sen ta t ions and promises .

14. On o r about Apr i l 29, 2011, fo r the purpose o fexecut ing such scheme and a r t i f i c e , the defendant AUBREY LEEPRICE did t ransmi t and cause to be t r ansmi t t ed , by means o f wirecommunicat ion in i n t e r s t a t e commerce, wri t ings , s igns , s igna l s ,p ic tu res and sounds, sp e c i f i c a l l y , a wire t r a ns f e r from theaccount held a t the New Je r sey Clear ing Firm by the Broker-Dealerfo r the b en e f i t of Montgomery Growth t o the account held a t theBrooklyn Clear ing Firm by the Broker-Dealer , a l s o fo r the benef i tof Montgomery Growth, in the amount of 4,530,000.



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o r der ived from proceeds obtained d i rec t l y o r i nd i r e c t l y as ar e su l t of such offense .

16. I f any of the above-descr ibed fo r f e i t a b l eproper ty , as a r e su l t of any ac t o r omiss ion of the defendant:

a) cannot be loca ted upon the exerc i se of dued i l igence ;

b) has been t rans fe r red o r so ld to , o r depos i t edwith, a t h i rd par ty ;

c) has been placed beyond the j u r i s d i c t i o n ofthe cour t ;

d) has been su b s t a n t i a l l y diminished in value ;o r

e) has been commingled with o th e r prope r ty whichcannot be div ided without d i f f i cu l t y ;t i s the i n t e n t of the United Sta tes , pursuan t to Ti t l e 21,

United Sta tes Code, Sect ion 853 p), as incorpora ted by Ti t l e 28,



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CRIMINAL FORFEITURE ALLEGATION S TO COUNT TWO17. The United Sta tes hereby gives no t ice to the

defendant t ha t upon h i s conv ic t ion of the offense charged inCount Two, the government wi l l seek fo r f e i t u r e in accordance withTi t l e 18, United Sta tes Code, Sect ion 982 a) 2) A), whichrequ i re s any person convicted of such offense to fo r f e i t anyproper ty cons t i tu t ing o r der ived from proceeds obta ined d i rec t l yo r i nd i r e c t l y as a r e su l t o f such offense .

18. I f any of the above-descr ibed fo r f e i t a b l eproper ty as a r e su l t of any ac t o r omiss ion o f the defendant:

{a cannot be loca ted upon the exerc ise o f duedi l igence ;

b) has been t rans fe r red o r so ld to o r depos i tedwith, a t h i r d par ty ;

{c) has been placed beyond the j u r i s d i c t i o n of t hecour t ;



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o ther proper ty of the defendant up to the value of thefo r f e i t a b l e prope r ty descr ibed in t h i s fo r f e i t u r e a l l ega t ion .

Ti t le 18, United Sta tes Code, Sec t ion 982 a) 2) A);T i t l e 21, United S ta t e s Code, Sect ion 853 p) )

LORETTA E LYNCHUNITED STATES TTORNEYEASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

rp ; . : . . _ : ~ . : _ t \ . ~ : ;Q ~ J ~ ~ Q _136



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SC:DCW JMF. 2012R01026FORMDBD 34JUN 85

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTEASTERN DISTRICT of NEW YORK

Criminal DivisionTHE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

AUBREY LEE PRICE,Defendant

I N D I C T M E N TCr. No.(T. 15 , U.S .C . , 78j (b) and 78f f ;

T. 18 , U.S .C . , 981 a ) (1) (C),982 (a) (2) (A), 1343, 2 and 3551 t seg: . ;T. 21, U.S .C . , 8 5 3 p ) ;T. 28, u.s.c. , 2461 c) )

A true bill

of A.D. 2 _ _ _ _ _

Clerk

Boil, _AUSA David Woll, (718) 254-6241


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US v. Aubrey Lee Price Indictment