ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Dozens of potential victims came forward to the Division of Banking and Securities following the publication by Alaska’s News Source of an alleged fraudulent multi-million-dollar investment scheme, DBS officials said.
“Since your story aired, we are now in touch with people who have made investments by, or on behalf of 91 people, almost all of them from Alaska,” DBS Director Robert Schmidt said. “We have been able to document over $14 million in deposits made with this individual.”
Schmidt says 29-year-old Garret Elder of Anchorage committed fraud by selling what he claimed to be profit-sharing agreements, investment contracts and securities through a business called Tycoon Trading, LLC, located on Old Seward Highway. Last month, Alaska’s News Source published that 39 potential victims reported that Elder had defrauded them out of $7.4 million, according to DBS.
“Certainly, this is the highest profile scam that we’ve had in many years,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt calls this an “affinity scam,” one in which the scammer targets friends and people who interact in the same social circles. He says Elder was very skilled at gaining the trust of people around him.
“This has been devastating to so many Alaskans,” said DBS Senior Investigator Naomi Mitchell.
Jake is an alleged victim of Elder’s scam. Jake and his wife Amy asked that their last names remain concealed. The couple says they invested nearly half a million dollars with…
