The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges against Detroit-based EIA All Weather Alpha Fund Partners I LLC (EIA) and its sole owner, RIA Andrew M. Middlebrooks, for an alleged multiyear Ponzi scheme that the agency said included the misappropriation and loss of nearly $39 million in investor funds.
On May 19, the SEC obtained emergency relief from the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan, which approved a temporary restraining order against EIA and Middlebrooks and an asset freeze against both defendants.
The commission said in its complaint that from at least mid-2017 to April 2022, EIA and Middlebrooks deceived investors in their hedge fund, the EIA All Weather Alpha Fund I LP, by making false and misleading statements that “wildly” misstated the fund’s performance and total assets. The SEC also said in the complaint that the fund and Middlebrooks provided falsified investor account statements, misrepresented that the fund had an auditor and created and disseminated a fake audit opinion to investors.
From at least mid-2017 through the present, Middlebrooks used EIA to solicit and raise approximately $39 million from over 100 investors for what he claimed to be a long/short equity hedge fund, the SEC said.
Middlebrooks and the fund…
