Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Headline: Investment Fraud
Investors’ checks were simply deposited into business accounts—not investment accounts—while Robertson and Vaughn took huge commissions off the top and used investor funds for their own personal living expenses, including mortgage and car payments, school tuitions, spa visits, restaurants, department stores, and vacations. The two men, probably in an attempt to generate goodwill for their company and solicit additional clients, even donated some of their victims’ money to charity, one of which was controlled by Robertson’s family.
The FBI’s Richmond Division became involved in the case in late November 2015 after a referral by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC had begun its own regulatory/civil investigation into the practices of Cavalier Union Investments several months earlier, and that investigation continues as the SEC seeks permanent injunctions, return of ill-gotten gains with interest, and civil penalties from Robertson, Vaughn, and Cavalier Union Investments.
During the criminal investigation, we worked closely with our partners on the Virginia Financial and Securities Fraud Task Force—and are particularly grateful for the expertise of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division—along with the Virginia State Corporation Commission. After investigators interviewed victims and analyzed voluminous company records, bank records, and personal finance records of the two subjects—with the invaluable assistance of an FBI Richmond forensic accountant—there was ample evidence to charge Robertson and Vaughn in connection with the fraud scheme.
Several other conspirators of Robertson’s were charged in a spin-off bank fraud scheme—all three have pleaded guilty, two have been sentenced, and the third will be sentenced shortly.