Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Steadivest's Marshall Wolfe Indicted

Collection of all posts on Steadivest case

 A federal grand jury indicted former Steadivest President/CEO/Grand Poobah Marshall Wolfe for bankruptcy fraud and concealment of assets last week.  Mr. Wolfe operated a ponzi scheme under an umbrella of Steadivest companies*from 2007 to 2009.
The indictment alleges Mr. Wolfe and others solicited money from investors for real estate loans in exchange for "high returns on their investments."  Mr. Wolfe was able to obtain several million dollars from investors but "drained the companies of millions of dollars within a short period of time."  Mr. Wolfe lived the good life as he lived in a home worth nearly a million dollars on the water in the Palisades. 

Mr. Wolfe allegedly transferred properties from the Steadivest companies to the Investlinc/TFS Fund, LLC "in order to deceive investors and keep proceeds from creditors."  Translation: Mr. Wolfe allegedly shuffled properties around so he could keep them and other assets away from creditors as he filed bankruptcy within a few weeks. Jackson Jambalaya pointed out the possible bankruptcy fraud in an earlier post, Did Steadivest use shell games to hide assets? JJ said in 2009:

Investlinc Inc./TFS Income Fund, LLC is a firm that provides "financing for real estate investment and development" according to its SEC filing. Its principal address listed with the SEC was 4 Country Place, Pearl, Mississippi 39208. It was created on December 26, 2007. Patrick McRaney, a member of Steadivest, is listed as the Executive Officer. Marshall Wolfe is listed as an Executive Officer. Lee Paris is listed as Promoter. Jack Harrington signed the filing as the Chief Financial Officer of the firm and is also listed as an Executive Officer. .....

What is odd about these deeds of trust is they were executed less than a month before Mr. Wolfe submitted his bankruptcy petition for Steadivest. If the properties have liens, the properties are somewhat shielded from other creditors in bankruptcy unless the Court rules these are fraudulent transactions and cancels the liens. The fact Mr. Wolfe used another company he ran that was in the same office to place liens on properties on properties he owned a month only a few weeks before he filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy makes these dealings highly suspect.
 He is arraigned tomorrow at 2:30 in U.S. District Court.  He is represented by Clarence Guthrie.  No one else was indicted. No one else was indicted.

* Mr. Wolfe was affiliated with the following companies as a "managing member, officer, or agent" Steaviest Capital, Steadivest, Steadivest Development, Investlinc/TFS Income Fund, Tactical Financial Solutions. Here is an old video of Mr. Wolfe.





32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sad that a heartless crook like this cared only about himself and material possessions. There is a special place for thieves like this one. He would be a good candidate for CNBC's "American Greed" TV show. He would fit right in with those Ponzi Scheme operators who are now in prison.

Anonymous said...

Good job KF being the first to break the news!! Finally Justice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

How many millions did he blow through and how long did it take him to spend it?

Anonymous said...

Is this the man who was a deacon and Sunday school teacher?

Anonymous said...

Around 15million Dollars is the total loss. Many investors over the age of 65 lost everything they had.

Anonymous said...

Appreciate your coverage of this, KF. Steadivest was something I didn't understand. Thanks for taking complex things and putting them in understandable language.

Anonymous said...

I didn't do it. It was the fault of the poor economy. I'm innocent. I didn't do anything. I worked my buns off for you old folks. I was SOOO Excited. Trust me. Let's pray.

Anonymous said...

Hooray for Jackson Jambalaya. Good reporting. You are way ahead of the local news media.

Anonymous said...

The economy went to hell. It is easy to play the blame game. No one thought the money tree in the back yard was going to die. We all bought things we did not need nor could afford. That is the American way. I love how people judge and are anonymous. Their is a "special place" for people like that too.

Anonymous said...

Now, please go get Lee Paris, Mr. Investlinc/TFS Fund. You can't tell me he wasn't involved or clueless.

Anonymous said...

Yes, 4:39, Wolfe used the church and personal relationships to leverage himself as a honest and a credible businessman. HIs family and in-laws supported him through it all to the very end. He was a dishonest man that used everyone and everything to his advantage. He deserves many years of imprisonment.

Judge Not Lest Ye Be Kingfish said...

"Is this the man who was a deacon and Sunday school teacher?"

So was Jimmy Swaggart and you watch him every week.

Anonymous said...

Wolfe was/is smooth, and he had/has a silk tongue and a gift of gab. It is to bad that he didn't use it for the good instead of the greedy.

Anonymous said...

We must wonder where he spent it and what type of salary he paid himself. Most scam operators live big and fall hard.

Anonymous said...

What about Patrick Harrington and Joel Travelstead? Weren't they Wolfe partners?

Anonymous said...

Watch that video KF posted of Wolfe and then wonder who believed something like the following.

"¶ 3. In January 2008, Wolfe sent a letter to potential investors regarding the formation of SteadiVest and the opportunity to purchase membership interests in the new company. Wolfe wrote that SteadiVest was “in the process of raising $10 million of growth equity.” Material attached to the letter included a Power Point presentation that provided a vague overview of the company, a private placement memorandum (PPM), the company's LLC agreement, and a proforma. The material identified the “SteadiVest Management Team,” which included Wolfe as chief executive officer and Harrington as president and chief operating officer, among others. Both Wolfe and Harrington testified that Harrington was the chief financial officer as well. The PPM instructed investors to contact Harrington with questions about the offering.

¶ 4. SteadiVest projected $60,000,000 in revenue and $20,000,000 in earnings over the first five years. The PPM provided that “full and complete records and books of accounts” would be maintained and available to investors at any time upon request."

In 2008 no less? Subprime had already cratered at tthe RE market was done.

Their blog is still up. Left a backlink. Marshall is probably busy with other things. http://steadivest.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-does-rehab-consist-of.html

Anonymous said...

Patrick McRaney, Joel Travelstead, Jack Harrington, Lee Paris all involved. We need the rest of the story.

Anonymous said...

Wolfe will never admit that he scammed people out of there money. He will scream at the top of his lungs, "It wasn't my fault. I was trying to keep the company going." But, he also won't admit that he was taking one quarter of a million each year as a salary plus tons of expenses on the company expense accounts, maybe as much or more than his base salary. He will enter the prison screaming, "It wasn't my fault." He will also be writing on this blog defending himself. Wait and see. The prisons are full of innocent people, but Wolfe is different. He scammed old folks, church members, family, and believe it or not, his own mother and wife's grandmother and wife's parents.

Anonymous said...

He will answer for his actions.. One way or the other.

Anonymous said...

What a dude. What about his co-hearts. He couldn't have been the only one in the company that knew there was a scam going on. Impossible.

Anonymous said...

He must have was eating high on the hog.

Anonymous said...

How do you spend 15 million and have nothing left except scraps?

Anonymous said...

Wolfe's co-heart was Tracy. His cohorts were Harrington, Travestead, and McCraney.

Anonymous said...

The Workings of a Ponzi Scheme

There are many variations of a Ponzi scheme, but they all have the same common denominators:

1) They promise rates of returns higher than the capital, money and investment market opportunities of the day can deliver.

2) The exact investment vehicles into which such received funds are put into are never revealed with clarity by the operators of the scheme.

3) Payment obligations are met for a period of time as long as new investors are brought into the system.

4) The entire scheme eventually buckles under its weight when the operators are unable to bring in enough new investors to meet the payment obligations to existing investors.

Anonymous said...

Now this guy can spend some of his money on defense lawyer fees.

Anonymous said...

Mentioning McCraney, who clearly assisted in the transactions that were intended to help Wolfe defraud, seems to get no follow up attention here. Gee I wonder why (roll eyes).

Anonymous said...

Bankruptcy fraud is a serious criminal federal offense. Most bankruptcy fraud involves the concealment of assets, but in Wolfe's case there is no telling what all or how much he concealed. A Ponzi scheme, as alleged by the Mississippi secretary of state, is another offense. Could it be possible that a person could be found guilty, sent to federal prison, get out, and go straight to state prison for the state offense?

Anonymous said...

Oh Great Heavens to Betsy. Mr. Wolfe. Boy oh boy. What a guy. He took my uncle's money, prayed at his house over his new investment, and later took him to lunch at a fancy restaurant trying to get more money out of him.

Anonymous said...

Great news reporting Jackson Jambalaya. Fast and accurate.

Anonymous said...

What Wolfe did, was read investors head,study them precise and the investors that would show him the most greed, he then used his over and above greed to sign them up.This now allows him a RUSH and he can never get off, until it breaks down. And break down it did. Bad Greed with all involved.

Anonymous said...

Trial set for June 2nd, max jail time 5 years per count.

Anonymous said...

How pitiful was his infomercial? Real savvy investor's he was after...



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