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Securities Division > Prosecution Assistance Unit > About the Prosecution Assistance Unit About the Prosecution Assistance Unit

About the Prosecution Assistance Unit

The Prosecution Assistance Unit was created within the Enforcement Section of the Securities Division to assist law enforcement agencies in prosecuting white collar criminals. Currently the unit includes one attorney and two investigators devoted exclusively to the enforcement of the criminal provisions of the Indiana Securities Act, the Indiana Loan Broker Act and related statutes. The Unit operates under the direction and supervision of the Securities Commissioner and the Senior Investigator.

Updates

On July 24, 2009, police arrested Christopher Meeks on felony violations of Indiana’s Loan Broker Act. The arrest comes after a joint investigation conducted by Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita’s Prosecution Assistance Unit (PAU) and Henry County Prosecutor Kit Crane. The Henry County Prosecutor’s Office filed the criminal charges. PAU Senior Attorney Stephanie Caraway will serve as special prosecutor in the case. Meeks faces three felony counts and could face up to three years in prison for each charge.

The charges filed indicate that during late 2006 and early 2007, Meeks submitted a mortgage application on behalf of a couple seeking to purchase a house. Meeks included false employment and bank account information on the application and ultimately bilked the couple out of more than $14,000. He was not registered as a loan broker in the state of Indiana.

Specific charges against Meeks include Loan Broker Fraud and doing business as an unregistered loan broker– all Class D felonies. The charges described are merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

On July 24, 2009, Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita announced the arrest of Matthew J. Walker, formerly of Greenfield, after an investigation of securities fraud by his Prosecution Assistance Unit. Walker was taken into custody late yesterday in Indianapolis by Greenfield police after being sought for several days on charges filed on July 15th by Hancock County Prosecutor Dean Dobbins in Hancock County Circuit Court. Walker faces 13 separate counts of felony securities fraud, each a Class C felony carrying a possible 8 year prison sentence if convicted.

According to documents filed with the court, Walker sold three victims investments in a business that did not exist. The charges also allege Walker illegally used the invested funds for his own personal use, that he was operating as a securities dealer in Indiana without a license and that the investments he sold were not registered properly. Walker’s victims allegedly lost $56,000.

Walker was arraigned at an initial hearing this morning in Hancock County Circuit Court where he plead not guilty. Bond was set at $25,000 cash only.

The case against Walker was investigated by the Prosecution Assistance Unit along with the Greenfield Police Department. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department assisted with the arrest.

On July 1, 2009, all four suspects in the Alanar case (described below) were apprehended and placed in custody in the Sullivan County Jail. U.S. Marshals pursued apprehensions after arrest warrants were issued and delivered each suspect to the jail by that morning.

On June 30, 2009, former pastor Vaughn Reeves and his sons, Chip, Chris and Josh, face 10 separate felony counts each involving violations of the Indiana Securities Act. The charges allege the four engaged in a multi-million dollar, faith-based affinity fraud through the use of a modified Ponzi scheme. The charges were filed today in Sullivan Circuit Court by Sullivan County Prosecutor Robert Hunley II. The investigation was a collaborative effort by the Secretary of State’s Prosecution Assistance Unit, the Sullivan County Prosecutor’s office and the Indiana State Police. Each of the Reeves could face up to eight years in prison per charge if convicted.

According to court documents, the Reeves allegedly committed affinity fraud by duping investors into buying bonds that raised at least $120 million. The stated purpose for the vast majority of the bonds was to supposedly finance church construction and expansion. However, the Reeves allegedly shuffled this money among various accounts and stole approximately $6 million for themselves in the process.

The Reeves operated Alanar, Inc., as the umbrella company for their scheme. The charges allege that the Reeves violated securities laws by misapplying and misappropriating money from bond repayments made by churches issuing the bonds. The Reeves were also allegedly misappropriating money from people purchasing bonds, often members of the same church as was issuing the bond.

Alanar management created training materials to distribute to church members, who were encouraged to sell bonds to their fellow church members. The materials relied heavily on the religious convictions of the victims. For example, the church members were trained to open the sales call with a prayer, quote Bible scripture during sales calls and to “never sell the facts, sell warm stewardship and the Lord.”

The allegations suggest the Reeves engaged in their scheme over the course of at least five years. By illegally moving money among bond accounts, the Reeves concealed the true rate of default on Alanar bonds from investors. Thousands of investors, predominantly Hoosiers, have been financially devastated by the Reeves’ alleged conduct.

In an effort to keep the victims informed of the status of the case, Secretary Rokita and Prosecutor Hunley have each set up Alanar information pages on the Web. For more information visit http://www.sullivancountyprosecutor.com/ and click on the “Alanar Information” section, or go to www.in.gov/sos/alanar.

On June 5, 2009, Indianapolis resident Phillip Moore was sentenced to serve a sentence of two years of home detention and was ordered to pay back thousands of dollars he bilked from victims after being sentenced in Marion Superior Court on two felony violations of Indiana’s Securities Act. A joint investigation between Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita’s Prosecution Assistance Unit and the office of Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi led to the felony charges filed in June 2008.

The investigation revealed that Moore operated a Ponzi scheme by convincing his victims to invest in a real estate venture and promising high rates of return over short periods of time. Moore issued unregistered promissory notes that often went unpaid or were paid by checks which were later returned for having insufficient funds.

During the sentencing hearing, Magistrate Amy Barbar commented on the negative effect real estate schemes like Moore’s have had on the economy. She also ordered Moore to pay back the entire $176,500 his victims invested and to serve six years on probation with ten hours of community service each month over that time.

On February 20, 2009, Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita announced the arrest by the Indiana State Police of Wanda Robertson at her home in Indianapolis. Robertson faces nine separate felony counts in Johnson County involving violations of Indiana’s Securities Act. The arrest came after an investigation conducted by the Indiana State Police with assistance by Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita’s Prosecution Assistance Unit (PAU). Charges were filed by Johnson County Prosecutor Brad Cooper. Robertson faces up to eight years in prison for each class C felony and is being held on $72,000 bond.

According to the charges filed, Robertson allegedly solicited investors through the Web site Craig’s List, claiming to offer a business opportunity where individuals would be given ownership in her company, Real Estate Paper Chase, but have no control over the running of the business. Robertson’s alleged scheme involved using investors’ credit histories to apply for loans and credit cards on behalf of the business. Robertson promised to pay any debt incurred under the investor’s name and provide a 4 percent return on their investment. She also offered opportunities to become officers in “shelf corporations,” and to then invest in real estate through these companies and make even more money.

Specific charges against Robertson include six counts of Fraudulent or Deceitful Acts with the Offer, Sale or Purchase of a Security, and three counts of Transacting Business as an Unregistered Broker-Dealer or Agent – all Class C felonies.

Cooper appointed former Johnson County Deputy Prosecutor Stephanie Caraway, now Senior Attorney for Secretary Rokita’s Prosecution Assistance Unit, as Special Deputy Prosecutor to try the case against Robertson with assistance from Cooper and his staff.

More News Updates »

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