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Latest Enforcement News

  • (2024-02-23) Two Charlotte-area Men, Marlin Hershey & Dana Bradley, Sentenced to Prison for Fraudulent Investment Scheme. Click here for more details. (See also the entry at 2022-04-22 below).
  • (2024-02-07) The North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State, Securities Division, entered into a Final Order ("Order") with TradeStation Crypto, Inc ("TCI") to address TCI's failure to register its crypto interest-earning program as a security. For details, please see this press release.
  • (2023-07-28) California man, Gustavo Guzman, 60, pleads guilty to securities fraud for orchestrating $2M investment scheme. For details, please see this press release.
  • (2022-04-27) Founders Of Fake "Hedge Fund," Austin Delano Page and Brandon Alexander Teague, Plead Guilty To Federal Charges For Orchestrating A $4 Million Ponzi Scheme. For more information, see this press release.
  • (2022-04-22) Two Men, Marlin Hershey and Dana Bradley, Are Facing Federal Charges In Connection With Multi-Million Dollar Investment Scheme. Click here for details. (Also, see sentencing details at the entry for 2024-02-23 above.)
  • (2022-02-08) Case Against Former Forsyth County Investment Adviser, Russell Joseph Mutter, Concludes with Guilty Plea, Lengthy Sentence. Click here for more details.
  • (2021-11-15) Raleigh real estate developer, Joshua Matthew Houchins, 36, sentenced to a decade in prison for his role in a real estate Ponzi scheme and for firearm possession charges. See this press release.
  • (2021-04-05) Anthony Wayne March, 49, of Wake Forest, NC, was sentenced to 135 months for wire fraud for his role in an $8.1 million Ponzi scheme. He was also ordered to pay $6,040,965.00 in restitution. For more details, please see this press release.
  • (2021-03-15) Charles Gilbert Murphy, a serial fraudster from Apex, NC, was sent back to federal prison for an investment scam involving impersonation of a mayor, professor, and a government agency. For more information, see this press release.
  • (2020-09-08) A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging Joshua Matthew Houchins, 36, of Sanford, NC, with fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice and firearms offenses. The charges were announced today in federal court (see press release). The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the North Carolina Secretary of State are investigating the case. The Wake County Sheriff’s Office, Apex Police Department, and Sanford Police Department, also provided assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorney William M. Gilmore is prosecuting the case. An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
  • (2020-08-13) Graham, N.C. Man Is Sentenced To More Than Five Years For $1.1 Million Investment Scheme. (Press Release.)
  • (2020-08-03) Anthony Wayne March, 49, of Wake Forest, NC, pleaded guilty today to wire fraud for his role in an $8.1 million Ponzi scheme. For more details, please see this press release.
  • (2020-06-11) Joseph Maurice Deberry, a/k/a Joseph Maurice Dewberry, 56, of Charlotte, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge David S. Cayer yesterday and pleaded guilty to wire fraud, for orchestrating an investment scheme that defrauded victims of hundreds of thousands of dollars, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. For more information, see this press release.
  • (2020-05-26) A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed today revealing that Joshua Matthew Houchins, 36, of Sanford, NC, has been charged with fraud and money laundering (see press release). The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the North Carolina Secretary of State are investigating the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney William M. Gilmore is prosecuting the case. An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
  • (2020-03-31) NC Secretary of State Offers Tips to Avoid COVID-19 Related Investment Scams
  • (2019-11-21) *UPDATE: See the information at 2020-08-03 above.* United States Attorney Robert J. Higdon, Jr. announced that a federal grand jury had returned an Indictment charging ANTHONY WAYNE MARCH, 48, of Wake Forest, North Carolina, with one count of Securities Fraud; three counts of Wire Fraud; one count of Bankruptcy Fraud; one count of Obstruction of Bankruptcy Case; three counts of False Oaths; and four counts of Money Laundering. The indictment follows an investigation by the NC Secretary of State’s Securities Division and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division. For more information, click here.

Cease & Desist Orders

A summary cease & desist order is issued by the Securities Division when it appears that ongoing activity violates the North Carolina Securities Act or the North Carolina Investment Advisers Act and poses the threat of irreparable harm to the investing public. The cease & desist order commands those who receive it to stop any further violations and to comply with the requirements of the securities laws. At the time of issuance of a summary order, the persons named in the order have not had the opportunity to respond to its allegations. The order notifies those persons that they may request a hearing on whether the allegations are true. If no hearing is requested, the Division will issue a final order confirming the allegations as true. A final order terminates the controversy between the parties and concludes the issues in the proceeding, unless and until it is vacated or set aside.

Criminal Enforcement
& Administrative Actions


On February 22, 2024, two Charlotte-area business partners were sentenced to prison for executing a fraudulent investment scheme, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Marlin Hershey, 54, of Cornelius, N.C., was sentenced to 21 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release. Dana Bradley, 53, also of Cornelius, was sentenced to 10 months plus one day in prison followed by two years of supervised release. In addition, the court imposed significant restitution and financial penalties on the defendants, including more than $333,000 in restitution to victims and combined forfeiture and fines of more than $600,000. North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall and Robert M. DeWitt, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, join U.S. Attorney King in making the announcement. See press release for more details. See also the entry at April 22, 2022, for additional details.

On February 7, 2024, the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State, Securities Division, entered into a Final Order ("Order") with TradeStation Crypto, Inc ("TCI") to address TCI's failure to register its crypto interest-earning program as a security. As part of the Order, TCI agrees to immediately cease and desist from offering, selling or renewing the interest feature or any security that is not registered, qualified, or exempt to investors in North Carolina. For more information, click here.

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