Press Release
Former CEO of Summit Wealth Management sentenced to prison for orchestrating a multi-million dollar fraud scheme
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Georgia
ATLANTA – Angelo Alleca, the former CEO of Atlanta, Georgia, based Summit Wealth Management, has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for a multistate investment fraud scheme. The scheme victimized over 300 people who lost more than $24 million dollars.
“Alleca defrauded victims from across the country and, like many investment fraudsters, he preyed on seniors, retirees, and others simply looking for safe and secure returns,” said U.S. Attorney John Horn said. “Citizens should take careful steps to research and scrutinize any investment manager to whom they entrust their hard-earned money, and remember that if something does not seem right, they should ask questions.”
“There is a very real victimization felt by people who have entrusted their financial futures to the hands of someone who would uncaringly violate that trust,” said David J. LeValley, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Atlanta Field Office. “In some cases people lose their entire life savings. Though they may never fully recover financially, hopefully the sentences handed down in this case and the restitution imposed will give the victims some solace for their losses.”
According to U.S. Attorney Horn, the indictment, and other information presented in court: From on or about 2004 until 2012, Alleca acted as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Summit Wealth Management, an investment adviser headquartered in Atlanta. During that time, Alleca started several funds and falsely misrepresented that money would be invested in hedge funds and debt securities and managed by professional investment managers.
Instead of investing the money as advertised, Alleca lost a substantial portion of the funds through securities trading. Additionally, he improperly used the funds to operate Summit Wealth Management, make interest payments and redemptions to earlier investors, and to pay personal expenses. During the course of the scheme, fraudulent account statements were mailed to investors showing gains, when there was no money in the funds.
In 2007, Mark Morrow, a co-defendant in the case and Alleca’s former business partner, established Detroit Memorial Partners LLC, which sold promissory notes to acquire and manage cemeteries in Michigan.
Between 2007 and 2012, Morrow and Alleca marketed promissory notes in Detroit Memorial Partners to Summit Wealth clients in Atlanta and throughout the country. Detroit Memorial Partners’ offering documents contained material misrepresentations, including that the notes would be secured by real property when in fact no security interest was ever recorded with respect to the notes. Moreover, shortly after receiving the note proceeds, Alleca and Morrow diverted funds for improper purposes including, making interest payments and redemptions to investors in Summit Wealth Management funds and personal expenses. Because of their fraud schemes, over 300 investors lost over $24 million dollars invested in the Summit Funds and Detroit Memorial Partners LLC.
Angelo Alleca, 47, of Buffalo, New York, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leigh Martin May to eight years in federal prison and three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $24,382,487.66, in restitution. On May 26, 2016, Alleca pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
On April 27, 2017, Mark Morrow, 56, of Cincinnati, Ohio, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. His sentencing is scheduled for October 18, 2017 at 9:30 am, before U.S. District Court Judge Leigh Martin May.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Brown prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Updated August 18, 2017
Topic
Financial Fraud
Component