Receiver appointed in $100M Ponzi scheme seeks money back from Ole Miss Athletics Foundation

The receiver appointed by a federal judge in the $100 million Ponzi scheme case has asked the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation to return the nearly $100,000 given by the Madison County businessman who pleaded guilty in the case.

 Alysson Mills of New Orleans said in her first receiver status report released Wednesday that she has issued a notice for the Ole Miss Athletic Foundation to return  gifts of $49,900 in 2016 and $47,100 given by businessman Arthur Lamar Adams or his company Madison Timber Properties. She said the gifts were made with stolen money and she intends to take legal action to have the money returned to benefit defrauded investors.

Mills also has issued notices to recruiters paid to entice investors for Adams' company that she plans to take legal action if they don't return money to defrauded investors.

Adams pleaded guilty in May in a plea agreement to one count of wire fraud and faces a maximum 20 years in prison.

His sentencing had been scheduled for Aug. 28, but has been rescheduled to Oct. 29 in federal court in Jackson.

Prosecutors said Adams devised a sophisticated Ponzi scheme that attracted at least 300 wealthy investors to pour in more than $100 million.

Federal prosecutors said the scheme worked by recruiting investors to invest at least $100,000 each in Madison Timber Properties.

Prosecutors haven't said whether anyone else will be charged. U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker has said he and his wife were victims.

Court records show that in 2017 Adams paid one unnamed recruiter approximately $2.44 million and another more than $1.6 million. The payments were commissions for the individuals' work recruiting investors.

Mills said she has sent notices to the recruiters, Adams’ family and Ole Miss Athletic Foundation and requested banks and accountants’ records and records from law firms.

“I anticipate that some institutions and persons, including recruiters, who received stolen money will voluntarily pay it back to the receivership estate,” Mills said in her court report. “Voluntary repayment will be welcomed, of course, because it will save the receivership estate considerable expense. For those who do not voluntarily repay, I intend to file lawsuits to recover the money.”

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves has signed an order giving Mills the authority to file third-party lawsuits in an effort to recoup investors' money.

Mills has determined that Adams had assets of about $2 millions in personal and company bank accounts. All of his assets were frozen by a court order.

Adams also has a lot of other property he owns, including a Jackson home purchased in 2011 for $364,000 and a condo in Oxford he purchased for $135,000 in 2013

He also had interests in other property through companies he was a part of :

• 1,170 acres of farmland in Oktibbeha County purchased for $2.79 million in 2014. Trustmark Bank is owed approximately $2.2 million on the loan to buy the land.
• 1.5 acres on Highway 30A in Florida purchased for $1.9 million in 2017. Jefferson Bank is owed $1.365 million on the loan.
• 1,723 acres with a hunting lodge in Humphreys County purchased for $2.59 million in 2016. Southern AgCredit is owed approximately $2 million on the loan.
• 808-plus acres with a hunting camp in Sunflower County purchased for $1.6 million in 2014. Trustmark Bank is owed approximately $900,000 on the loan.
• 2,300 acres of undeveloped land in Lafayette County purchased in 2015 and 2016 for total of $6.1 million. Approximately $4.5 million is owed on the loan.
• 263 acres of recreational land in Holmes County purchased in 2009. The report doesn’t identify how much he paid for the land, but said approximately $368,000 is owed.

The receiver’s report also listed smaller items, including life insurance policy amounts, a pickup, jewelry and firearms.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil legal action against Adams and his company. Also, at least one investor has filed a lawsuit against Adams' company.

Sherri Hughes, who owns Highway 22 LLC in Madison County, said in her civil lawsuit that she is one of the defrauded investors.

She filed suit in Madison County Circuit Court against Adams; his business partner, William B. McHenry; and Madison Timber Properties.

Federal prosecutors haven’t said whether anyone else will be charged in the case, but Mills said she has communicated regularly with federal authorities, and they have shared information with her to the extend they can without impairing the integrity of potential ongoing criminal investigations.

Adams’ attorney, John Colette, has said his client is fully cooperating with federal authorities. Adams admitted in court that his business was a Ponzi scheme.

SOURCE: Gates, Jimmie E. "Receiver appointed in $100M Ponzi scheme seeks money back from Ole Miss Athletics Foundation." Mississippi Clarion Ledger, 23 August 2018, https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/08/23/ole-miss-foundation-asked-return-97-000-given-man-100-m-ponzi-case/1068032002/