The Illinois Secretary of State last week charged a local businessman known as “Mr. Finance” with working as an investment advisor with no license in handling 300 clients, investing funds, and then defaulting on thousands of dollars of payments to customers, leaving them in the lurch.
Advertising himself as “Mr. Finance,” Brandon Ellington and his firm, Access Capital Today Inc., generated income from real estate transactions which included “fix and flips” and received 2% commissions on real estate transactions, according to a temporary restraining order issued May 12 by Illinois’ Secretary of State, Securities Department.
Ellington “solicited clients through billboards, television, and radio advertising,” leading to customers contacting him and his firm, according to the order.
Ellington had no professional licenses and is not registered as an investment adviser representative, according to the order. And neither he nor his firm were registered to offer or sell securities.
According to the Illinois order, “Ellington advised clients to liquidate retirement accounts and invest” with him and his firm because their rate of return was much higher. The Illinois order refers to Ellington’s investment program as a “Ponzi-like scheme.”
“This guy was all over Chicago television and radio,” said Andrew Stoltmann, a plaintiff’s attorney based in the area. “He was certainly pretty well known here, but I’m afraid this has this has red flags of a potential mini Madoff.”
“It appears he was taking customers’ money and making payments om a high interest rate loan scheme,” Stoltmann said. “Those payments have dried up and he has disappeared from the scene.”
Ellington on Wednesday did not return a call to the company.
The Illinois order cited five complaints against Ellington and his firm.
When potential clients contacted Ellington and his firm after seeing or hearing their advertisements, their primary focus was on securing funding in the form of loans for potential clients through banks or private channels, according to the Illinois order.
One client, Luviner Walker, told a local ABC news affiliate that she learned about “Mr. Finance's so called investment program after hearing him on the radio.”
Ellington “convinced her to take out loans totaling $50,000 and invest the money with his business. In return, he'd send her monthly payments,” according to the report, promising her a profit of $35,000.
She received some monthly payments from Ellington but then he stopped paying.
"I keep trying to reach him to get my money," Walker said, according to the report. "It's to the point where I might have to do something with my house and move in with my daughter."
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