Area real estate firm, CEO face fraud charges in alleged $170M scheme

TAMPA — The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged EquiAlt LLC and its top leaders, CEO Brian Davison and Managing Director Barry Rybicki, in what it says was a fraudulent and unregistered securities offering that raised more than $170 million from at least 1,100 investors.

The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, says a number of the alleged victims of the scam had invested their retirement funds with Tampa-based EquiAlt.