Today’s final judgments obtained by the SEC find that Ledford and the companies he and Merrill created—Global Credit Recovery LLC, Delmarva Capital LLC, Rhino Capital Holdings LLC, Rhino Capital Group LLC, DeVille Asset Management Ltd. and Riverwalk Financial Corporation—are liable on a joint-and-several basis for $183,973,833 in disgorgement, plus $5,671,794 in prejudgment interest. The final judgment against Cameron Jezierski orders him to pay $105,000 in disgorgement and $2,913 in prejudgment interest.
The judgments are deemed satisfied in light of the recoveries made by the court appointed receiver and the restitution ordered against Merrill, Ledford, and Jezierski in the criminal matter, the SEC said in a statement.
The judgment against relief defendant Lalaine Ledford “provides for the equitable disgorgement of certain vehicles and luxury items which the SEC has alleged were obtained with the proceeds of Jay Ledford's fraud,” the agency said.
The SEC still has ongoing litigation against defendant Kevin Merrill and relief defendant Amanda Merrill, the SEC said.
At Ledford’s court hearing, he admitted that sometimes there was no underlying debt portfolio purchased with the investors’ money. To conceal the truth, Ledford, Merrill and Jezierski created imposter companies with names similar to actual consumer debt sellers or brokers and opened bank accounts in the names of those imposter companies, the DOJ said.
In addition, to lend credibility to the transactions, Ledford also admitted he created false portfolio overviews, created sales agreements that used the names and forged signatures of actual employees of the sellers, created false collections reports, and falsified bank statements and merchant account reports.
“Instead of using investors’ money as promised,” the SEC said in its 2018 complaint, the “defendants stole a vast portion of the money raised and used almost all that remained to make Ponzi-like payments to earlier investors so that the scheme could continue. Defendants Merrill and Ledford took millions to maintain a lavish lifestyle. Ledford misappropriated at least $40 million, including transferring at least $17 million to personal bank accounts and purchasing items including a $368,000 Ferrari, a $330,000 seven-carat diamond ring, and a $168,000 23-carat diamond bracelet, while transferring $13 million to casinos. Merrill misappropriated at least $45 million, including by transferring over $7 million to his personal bank accounts; spending $10.2 million on at least 25 high-end automobiles (including a 2008 Bugatti Veyron, a 2014 Pagani Huayra Diablo, a 2014 Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, a 2017 Rolls-Royce Dawn, and multiple other models made by Ferrari and Lamborghini); $5.5 million toward the purchase of a house in Naples, Fla.; over $2 million for home renovations; $500,000 for an interest in a Gulfstream 200 private jet; a $100,000 club membership in Naples; $350,000 on a boat; and transferring approximately $1 million to casinos.”