Home Charlotte Press Releases 2010 Former Owner of Ligna Acquisition Group Indicted on Wire Fraud, Money Laundering, and Tax Charges
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Former Owner of Ligna Acquisition Group Indicted on Wire Fraud, Money Laundering, and Tax Charges
Jerry D. Guess Charged in 17-Count Federal Indictment Stemming from $1.76 Million Advanced Fee Loan Fraud Scheme

U.S. Attorney’s Office June 17, 2010
  • Western District of North Carolina (704) 344-6222

CHARLOTTE, NC—Jerry Demario Guess, 25, of Charlotte, has been indicted on seven criminal counts alleging wire fraud, eight counts alleging money laundering, and two counts alleging filing false tax returns, all in connection with a fraudulent advanced fee loan scheme which cheated victims out of approximately $1.76 million. Guess is currently in the custody of Canadian authorities in Toronto on unrelated Canadian criminal violations.

Today’s announcement is made by Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina; Owen D. Harris, Special Agent in Charge of the Charlotte Division of the FBI: and Jeannine Hammett, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation Division. According to the indictment returned by a federal grand jury sitting in Charlotte on June 16, 2010, starting in 2007 and continuing until the present, Guess and others operating in Charlotte engaged in a scheme to defraud businesses and individuals located throughout the country. Guess allegedly operated an Internet website for Ligna Acquisition Group, LLP (Ligna) that advertised Ligna as a sophisticated private equity firm and direct lender routinely making loans of between $25 million and $1 billion to companies in need of private financing. The website, the indictment alleges, fraudulently stated that Guess had personally facilitated closing transactions worth more than $1 billion during his career and that Guess had access to millions of dollars of investment capital.

Potential victims, the indictment alleges, were referred to Guess by third-party brokerage companies and were in search of large scale financing for a variety of business projects. According to the indictment, Guess used “letters of intent” to provide information to his victims regarding amounts of money Ligna would lend, the interest rate, the loan value ratio, the time period for the loan’s closing, and the amount of Ligna’s fee (generally a percentage of the total amount of a loan and payment). These letters of intent, it is alleged, generally directed the victims to remit the initial fee to an entity described as Ligna’s “designated escrow agents.”

The indictment further alleges that Guess exerted dominion and control over the funds in the purported “escrow” accounts into which the initial fees were directed and utilized the funds deposited into them for his personal benefit. According to the indictment, Guess made transfers in excess of $500,000 into personal and nominee bank accounts; purchased three luxury Mercedes Benz vehicles totaling approximately $104,000; purchased a 5.89 total carat weight diamond engagement band worth approximately $93,000; and purchased a 24-hour security detail at a cost of approximately $425,000.

Certain victims of Guess are described in the indictment as having businesses based in New York, Arizona, and Texas. According to the indictment, Guess, though transmitting “commitment letters” to his victims that Ligna would provide the loans, never intended to provide any loans to the victims. Guess allegedly would meet with victims to purportedly review their business projects and plans, according to the charges. He would travel to these meetings in private planes and limousines operated by private security guards, it is alleged, only to turn around and use the advanced fees obtained from his victims to pay for, among other things, the expenses related to his travel. The indictment alleges that ultimately Guess would falsely advise the victims that, for a variety of reasons, their loans would not close. The indictment alleges that the victims requested refunds of their advanced fees, but the funds were never paid back.

If convicted, Guess faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment on each of the wire fraud counts, 10 years’ imprisonment on each of the counts alleging money laundering, and a maximum sentence of three years’ imprisonment on each count alleging tax fraud.

The case was investigated by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation Division, and the prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark T. Odulio of the Western District of North Carolina and trial attorney Jenny L. Grus of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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