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PALM HARBOR — Tampa attorney Burton Wiand has been appointed receiver over two Gulf Coast companies the Florida Office of Financial Regulation accuses of operating a Ponzi scheme.
Pinellas County Circuit Judge for the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court Anthony Rondolino appointed Wiand, according to a release. Wiand, with Wiand Guerra King, has handled several high-profile Ponzi scheme cases in Florida, including Arthur Nadel.
The case Wiand is assigned is in regards to Palm Harbor-based Tri-Med Corp. and Tri-Med Associates Inc. Tri-Med Corp. did not immediately return a phone call for comment on the case.
Regulators allege that the firms took $13 million from 232 investors. The court, according to a release, issued an order noting the “imminent danger” of the loss of investor funds. It also granted OFR's request for a receiver, temporary injunction, and asset freezes against Tri-Med Corp., Tri-Med Associates Inc., Jeremy Anderson, Anthony N. Nicholas, III, Eric Ager, Irwin Ager and Teresa Simmons Bordinat.
According to the complaint, Tri-Med Corp. began to solicit investors in 2011, when it promised above-market interest rates through investments in medical practice-related accounts-receivable. The firm, the compliant contends, assured investors their funds would be held in an escrow account and would be backed by major insurance companies. However only a small portion of the $13 million was ever invested as promised, the release states. The rest was allegedly diverted for the defendants' personal expenses and to pay fictitious returns to earlier investors.
“My firm and I plan to conduct a thorough investigation to discover and recover assets and pursue claims for the benefit of defrauded investors,” Wiand says in the press release.
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