Press Release
Minnesota Man Pleads Guilty To Central Florida Investment Fraud
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida
Orlando, Florida – Jeremy Kee Anderson (50, Minnesota) has pleaded guilty to 12 counts of wire fraud, 7 counts of mail fraud, and 1 count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each count. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to court documents, Anderson led a conspiracy that defrauded more than 200 victims out of over $10.3 million through investments offered in connection with a company called Tri-Med Corporation. Anderson was the founder and principal owner of Tri-Med.
The investment fraud scheme involved the alleged purchase of medical receivables by Tri-Med, and services that were provided to accident victims who were represented by personal injury attorneys. Payment of those medical receivables was supposed to have been made from the proceeds of litigation or an insurance claim made against a general liability or automobile insurance policy. Each of the medical receivables was also supposed to be secured by a “Letter of Protection,” a letter that is provided by a patient’s personal injury attorney to a medical services professional as an incentive to provide services to a patient. The letter is a contract involving a patient, the patient's attorney, and the medical services provider by which the patient and attorney agree to pay all or part of the total billed by the medical services provider from the proceeds of any pre-suit settlement, lawsuit settlement, or judgment that the patient may obtain.
To fund Tri-Med’s alleged purchases of medical receivables, Anderson and his conspirators solicited individuals to participate in an “investment program” in which investors’ money would be used by Tri-Med to buy medical receivables “backed” by letters of protection. As part of their solicitations, Anderson and his conspirators represented to investors that that their investments were safe and that investor funds would be held in a trust account that was controlled by an attorney. To assure investors that their investments were secure, Tri-Med claimed that it would transfer its interest in the letter of protection to the investor in a document called an “Assignment of Interest Certificate.” Those representations were false.
Of the more than $17 million raised from over 200 investors, only approximately $2.7 million was ever transferred from Tri-Med to the attorney’s trust account. The vast majority of the funds raised from investors never made it to that account. Over $6.5 million was paid to the sales people and the operators of Tri-Med or was used by them to benefit themselves or pay business expenses, while approximately $2.3 million was paid as distributions to investors to make them believe that their investments were profitable. In fact, Tri-Med did not purchase enough medical receivables to secure the incoming investments, so it fabricated “Assignment of Interest Certificates.” The result was that more than 200 victims lost over $10.3 million in this scheme.
Anderson is the fourth person to be charged as part of this conspiracy. Previously, the following individuals were charged and sentenced to federal prison terms for their roles in this conspiracy: Anthony Nicholas, Jr. (63, Hudson) received 11 years and 3 months and Eric Ager (78, Orlando) and Irwin Ager (84, Orlando) each were sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment.
This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the State of Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Shawn P. Napier and Roger B. Handberg, III.
Updated March 4, 2021
Topics
Financial Fraud
Securities, Commodities, & Investment Fraud
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