GASTON COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The founders of an alleged fake “hedge fund” in Kings Mountain pleaded guilty to coordinating a $4 million Ponzi scheme Wednesday, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office.
According to plea documents, 26-year-old Austin Page of Grover and 26-year-old Brandon Teague of Belmont operated an investment scheme from October 2020 to December 2021.
The scheme allegedly defrauded hundreds of investors, including some who were at or near retirement age, of more than $4 million, the Department of Justice said.
Documents showed Page and Teague told investors that they ran a hedge fund called D&T Investment Group in Kings Mountain. The group claimed to invest in a number of securities, including stock in well-known companies like Apple.
However, prosecutors said, D&T was not a hedge fund and it did not hold any securities licenses or registrations. Page and Teague were also not licensed to sell securities and had no background in investing.
The two men’s background was actually in selling campers, the DOJ said.
According to court documents and their own admissions, Page and Teague required investors to sign an investment contract with D&T that claimed the group would guarantee 100% of the investors’ initial investment and that they would receive 70% of trading profits.
In fact, officials say, the money was not…
