On October 30, 2015 in the Southern District of Ohio The Securities and Exchange Commission filed an enforcement action against William Apostelos and his companies WMA Enterprises, LLC, Midwest Green Resources, and OVO Wealth Management. The complaint alleged that Willlaim Apostelos and his companies conducted a fraudulent investment scheme.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that William Apostelos, WMA, Midwest Green, and OVO raised over $66 million from over 300 investors since January, 2010 and that throughout the alleged scheme, William Apostelos made multiple misrepresentations to recruit new investors. The SEC alleges that Apostelos told investors that their funds would be invested in stock, precious metals, real estate, and used to make short-term loans to small businesses and farmers.
The SEC alleges that, in fact, William Apostelos funneled nearly all the investor funds to WMA’s bank accounts and used them to make ponzi scheme like payments to earlier investors and promoters of the scheme; to finance other businesses that he owned; and to support his lavish lifestyle, including the payment of gambling expenditures.
The SEC’s complaint charges that William Apostelos violated Sections 5 and 17 of the Securities Act; and sections 10(b) and 15(a) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5. The SEC’s complaint also alleges that William Apostelos’ wife, Connie, and three businesses that she controls, Apostelos Enterprises, Coleman Capital, and Silver Bridle Racing, benefited from the ponzi scheme by receiving at least $7 million to which they had no legitimate claim.
Read the SEC’s litigation release here.
The most recent OVO Wealth Management Form ADV is found here.
The Law Office of David Liebrader practices exclusively in the field of investment loss recovery and our securities attorneys have successfully resolved over 1000 investment loss cases over the past 20 years. Recoveries for clients top $40 million. The types of claims we have successfully handled include those involving unsuitable investments (suitability claims), excessive trading or “churning”, misrepresentations and omissions, unauthorized trading, over-concentration of illiquid or overly risky investments, pump and dump scams involving “penny stocks”, direct participation programs (private placements) involving real estate investment trusts (REITS), oil and gas exploration programs, leasing equipment deals and receivable financing, promissory notes whether sold through a broker dealer or as part of the outside business activities of a registered representative, ponzi scheme losses, failure on the part of the broker dealer to perform due diligence, state securities law (blue sky) violations and failure to supervise.