For immediate release: June 10, 2021
Contact: JoDonn Chaney, Communications Director
(573) 526-0949
Ponzi-style Scheme Defrauds Missouri Investors
Jefferson City, Mo. — Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s Securities Division ordered Timothy Patrick Peabody and his company Monarch Capital Investment Fund, LLC, to show cause why restitution, civil penalties, costs and other administrative relief should not be imposed.
Between April 2015 and October 2016, Peabody, using his Florida and California-based company, allegedly employed a Las Vegas-based third-party agent, Retire Happy, LLC, to raise funds through the sale of unregistered, non-exempt promissory notes.
The nationwide fundraising effort utilized solicitations by Retire Happy, LLC and their unregistered agents, who ultimately raised more than $7 million for Monarch. They targeted at least four Missouri investors who purchased notes totaling $210,500.
Following the sale, the accused engaged in a Ponzi-style scheme, circulating investors’ own funds back to them in the form of high monthly interest payments and misappropriated a majority of the remaining funds for Peabody’s own personal benefit. As a result of the fraud, many investors, including the four Missouri residents, sustained significant losses on their investment.
The securities division seeks a final order for up to $800,000 in civil penalties, more than $200,000 in restitution plus interest and costs of the investigation.
“Offers of high rates of return, especially rates in the double digits, are very enticing to investors, and almost always include a high risk of loss,” said Ashcroft. “Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
Ashcroft urges investors to call the toll-free investor protection hotline at 800-721-7996 or go online to www.missouriprotectsinvestors.com for more information or to file a complaint.
—30—
Visit www.sos.mo.gov to learn more about the Office of the Missouri Secretary of State.