SEC Charges Russell Todd Burkhalter and His Atlanta-Based Firm With $300 Million Ponzi Scheme and Obtains Emergency Relief

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it obtained a preliminary injunction, asset freeze, and other emergency relief against Atlanta-based Drive Planning LLC and its founder and CEO, Russell Todd Burkhalter, to halt a $300 million real estate Ponzi scheme impacting more than 2,000 investors. Additionally, a receiver was appointed over Drive Planning. The SEC alleges the defendants misappropriated millions of dollars of investor funds to fund Burkhalter’s lavish lifestyle and to make Ponzi-like payments. “Drive Planning and Burkhalter gained the trust of everyday people and encouraged them to invest in this scheme by promising exorbitant returns, but as our complaint alleges, the defendants’ business was nothing more than a classic Ponzi scheme, using new investor money to pay returns to existing investors, with Burkhalter stealing millions to fund a lavish lifestyle,” said Nekia Hackworth Jones, Director of the SEC’s Atlanta Regional Office.