Updated · The Atlanta Journal Constitution · Aug 12
Drive Planning COO David Bradford Gets 4 Years in $380 Million Ponzi Scheme
Updated
Updated · The Atlanta Journal Constitution · Aug 12
Drive Planning COO David Bradford Gets 4 Years in $380 Million Ponzi Scheme
3 articles · Updated · The Atlanta Journal Constitution · Aug 12
Summary
David Bradford, 53, was sentenced in Atlanta to just over four years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud tied to Drive Planning, a defunct investment firm now in receivership.
Prosecutors said Drive Planning defrauded more than 2,000 investors of about $380 million by falsely marketing real-estate loans and other investments while using new money to pay earlier investors and commissions.
Judge Tiffany Johnson also ordered three years of supervised release and about $4.2 million in restitution, crediting Bradford’s cooperation but calling the crime deplorable because victims had trusted him with retirement savings.
Bradford is the first of three executives to be sentenced this week; former chief administrative officer Julie Edwards is due Thursday and founder-CEO Todd Burkhalter on Friday in what prosecutors called likely Georgia’s largest Ponzi scheme.