The defendants also squandered victims’ money on personal expenses such as clothing, jewelry, travel, luxury car rentals, and to make cash withdrawals.
CHARLOTTE, NC (WWAY) — The founders of a fake “hedge fund” appeared in court today and pleaded guilty to federal charges for orchestrating a $4 million Ponzi scheme, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Austin Delano Page, 26, of Grover, N.C., pleaded guilty to wire fraud, and Brandon Alexander Teague, 26, of Belmont, N.C.,
pleaded guilty to securities fraud. U.S. Magistrate Judge David C. Keesler accepted the defendants’ guilty pleas.
According to filed plea documents and the plea hearings, from October 2020 to December 2021, Page and Teague engaged in an investment scheme that defrauded hundreds of investors, some of whom were at or near retirement age, of more than $4 million.
Court documents show that the defendants falsely represented to victims that Page and Teague were running a hedge fund in
Kings Mountain, N.C., D&T Investment Group (D&T), that invested in various securities, including stock of well-known companies like Apple.
Contrary to representations made to victim investors, D&T was not a hedge fund and it did not hold any securities licenses or registrations.
Also, Page and Teague were not licensed to sell securities and did not have a background associated with the sale of securities.
In fact, prior to orchestrating the investment…
