The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained an emergency court order to halt an alleged USD4.5 million investment scheme by a Los Angeles-based company that purports to broker life settlements.
The SEC alleges that Daniel CS Powell and his company Christian Stanley Inc have spent the past seven years creating the illusion that it was a legitimate company involved in the life settlement industry. Contrary to what investors were told, Christian Stanley has never purchased or generated any revenue as a result of brokering the sale of a single life settlement, and has barely derived any revenue from any of its purported business ventures. Instead, Powell has simply used the Christian Stanley name as a vehicle to raise at least USD4.5 million in an unregistered offering of debenture notes, and spent most of the money for purposes unrelated to its ostensible business operations. Powell misused investor funds to finance his stays at luxury hotels, visits to nightclubs and restaurants, and purchases of high-end vehicles.
The Honorable George H King for the US District Court for the Central District of California yesterday granted the SEC’s request for a temporary restraining order and asset freeze against Powell and his companies. The court appointed Robb Evans & Associates LLC as temporary receiver over the entities.
“Powell and Christian Stanley created the façade of an actual business when in reality they have virtually no revenue,” says Rosalind Tyson, Director of the SEC’s Los Angeles Office. “Most of the money raised from investors has been used to finance Powell’s extravagant lifestyle and for other purposes that have not been disclosed to investors.”
A life settlement is a transaction in which an individual with a life insurance policy sells that policy to another person, who then assumes responsibility for paying the premiums. Typically, the seller no longer wants the policy or can no longer afford to pay the premiums. In exchange, the insured party typically receives a lump sum payment that exceeds the policy’s cash surrender value, but is less than the expected payout in the event of death.
According to the SEC’s complaint, Powell raised funds from at least 50 investors nationwide in the fraudulent debenture offering, promising investors fixed interest returns ranging from 5 to 15.5 percent annually for five-year terms. Powell claimed the notes were backed by assets such as a gold mine in Nevada and a coal mine in Kentucky that he said held coal deposits valued at USD11.8 billion.
The SEC alleges that instead of using investor money to purchase life settlements or develop the coal and gold mines, Powell and Christian Stanley instead used investors’ money for such unrelated purposes as sales commissions and Ponzi-like payments to existing note holders. Among Powell’s other personal expenditures with investor funds were USD21,000 toward his school loans, more than USD5,000 for cowboy boots, and nearly USD5,000 to register for a dating service.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Lucee Kirka, Peter Del Greco, and Marc Blau and the litigation will be led by Spencer Bendell of the Los Angeles Regional Office.
Judge King has scheduled a court hearing for Sept. 15, 2011, on the SEC’s motion for a preliminary injunction.
