Investor Alert
Woodbridge Mortgage Investment Funds Investigation
The Furgison Law Group’s investment fraud lawyers are investigating the Woodbridge investment programs below and are preparing to take action and seek compensation on behalf of Woodbridge investors who may have suffered losses.
- WMF Management, LLC;
- Woodbridge Group of Companies, LLC;
- Woodbridge Mortgage Investment Fund 1, LLC;
- Woodbridge Mortgage Investment Fund 2, LLC;
- Woodbridge Mortgage Investment Fund 3, LLC;
- Woodbridge Mortgage Investment Fund PA, LLC; and
- Woodbridge Group of Companies, LLC (d/b/a Woodbridge Wealth).
If you invested in any of the Woodbridge funds, please contact Jon Furgison or one of our Securities Analysts for more information or a free, no-obligation case evaluation at 310-356-6890, by email at jon@furgisonlawgroup.com, or through the contact form on this website.
SEC Files Charges Against Woodbridge and Robert Shapiro
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently announced that it was bringing charges and freezing the assets of a group of unregistered funds and their owner based on allegations that the Woodbridge Group and its founder, Robert Shapiro, bilked investors (many of them seniors) in a massive $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme.
According to the allegations, Woodbridge and Shapiro defrauded more than 8,400 investors in unregistered Woodbridge funds, based on a business model built on lies. According to the SEC complaint, Woodbridge marketed itself as issuing loans to purported third-party commercial property owners that were paying Woodbridge between eleven and fifteen percent annual interest for “hard money,” short-term financing. Woodbridge then promised to pay investors five to ten percent interest annually, according to the allegations. The claimed high-interest loans to third parties, were actually in large part made to Shapiro-owned companies that had no income and never made interest payments on the loans, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges that the Woodbridge group was only able to pay dividends to investors using a constant infusion of new investor money and that Shapiro used a web of layered companies to conceal his ownership interest in the purported third-party borrowers.
The SEC further alleges that Shapiro and Woodbridge used investors’ money to pay other investors and paid $64.5 million in commissions to sales agents who pitched the investments as “low risk” and “conservative.” Shapiro, of Sherman Oaks, California, is alleged to have diverted at least $21 million for his own benefit, including to charter planes, pay country club fees and buy luxury vehicles and jewelry. According to the complaint, the scheme collapsed in typical Ponzi fashion in early December as Woodbridge stopped paying investors and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The SEC’s complaint charges Shapiro, Woodbridge, and certain affiliated companies with fraud and violations of the securities and broker-dealer registration provisions of the federal securities laws.
About Us
Furgison Law Group is a nationwide plaintiff's law firm, based in Southern California (Los Angeles). Our attorneys have represented hundreds of investors that lost money in fraudulent investment or "Ponzi" schemes and we have recovered millions of dollars for our clients. We have the experience, skill and resources to prosecute the most complex cases and defeat the largest financial institutions in the country.
Jon Furgison
Mr. Furgison is the founding member of the firm and an accomplished trial lawyer that has represented firms, individuals and institutions in a variety of investment and consumer disputes. His expertise runs deep in the securities, broker-dealer and investment adviser industries. For two decades, Mr. Furgison has successfully represented parties in securities litigation and arbitration cases.
Prior to founding the firm, Mr. Furgison was a senior trial attorney for a Los Angeles defense firm that defended brokerage firms, securities broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, insurance companies, insurance agents and other fiduciaries. Mr. Furgison has developed a wealth of knowledge from working both sides of these securities cases. Mr. Furgison now exclusively represents Plaintiffs in their claims against the securities industry.
