JD Mellberg Finacial Josh Mellberg Josh Mellberg's Insurance Agents And Financial Advisors Acted As "Middlemen" Who Lined Up Victims In $100 Million Predatory Retirement Investment Scheme Tucson AZ

JD Mellberg's financial advisors along with investment advisory firms spanning the country were working together to scam thousands of investors out of retirement funds totaling $100 million.

Phone: 1 (800)293-0760
Web: www.jdmellbergfinancial.com
Category: investment brokers, investments, business investment fraud, investment fraud

A 72-year-old with no retirement plan. An 89-year-old Korean war veteran. A landscape company owner with no investing experience. These were among the thousands of victims of an elaborate investment scheme that succeeded in large part through the credibility lent to the scheme by a network of "middlemen" insurance agents, brokers, financial planners/investment advisors (IAs) and others who roped in unwary investors for Future Income Payments LLC (FIP).

Targeting what should be some of the most respected members of society—police officers, teachers and veterans, these financial advisors encouraged “investors to scrape together all possible funds from retirement accounts, savings and home equity refinancings to buy into ‘structured cash flows,’” or pension advancement arrangements.

In exchange for deeply discounted lump-sum pension buyouts, the retirement scheme promised investors a monthly income stream for a specified period of time, typically ranging from five to 10 years. Many pensioners were also persuaded to purchase life insurance and indexed universal life insurance policies by the financial advisors.

JD Mellberg Financial's advisors received hefty commissions by peddling this retirement scheme to clients. Currently there is no way for clients to get their money back.

The loss of the monthly income streams that investors thought they purchased from FIP has been devastating, since in many cases these trusting individuals tied up all their money in the scheme. The bottom line is that the massive scale of this investment swindle could not have happened without an eager and complicit network of brokers, financial planners and insurance agents who facilitated the illegal transactions by making victims feel comfortable. In fact, they were leading lambs to their financial slaughter."

Victims of the FIP investment swindle are now speaking out, here are their stories:

Scott Sohn (Rancho Mirage, CA) was a small business owner who recently sold his landscaping firm, retired, and rolled his 401k into a $350,000 FIP investment based on the advice of John Marshall. To add insult to injury, Marshall also had Sohn invest in a Ponzi scheme.

Eldridge Parker (Tampa, FL) was retired when he started working with a JD Mellberg Financial investment advisor. The financial advisor recommended FIP and had Parker invest $225,000 into it. Also, at the same time, he had Parker put $224,000 into an annuity. As a result, Parker can't even access his remaining retirement monies. Moreover, Parker was told to go back to work so he could afford to put his new paycheck into FIP. Parker was forced to sell his car to create an emergency fund. His current monthly expenses are $1352, and he only takes in $1100 per month from his new full-time job. He now works multiple additional shifts to try and cover his monthly expenses.

Scott Kayser (greater Philadelphia area) is a 55-year-old small business owner. He thought that he had a bona fide financial advisor that he could trust, but it turned out that he had an insurance agent. The agent wanted to put Kayser into an Indexed Universal Life Policy, so he told Kayser the only way to fund the policy was through FIP. The agent convinced Scott to put $75,000 from his savings and IRA into FIP.

Patricia "Trish" Koch (Tarzana, CA) and her husband are retired veterans. Leland Blair Whiting convinced them to refinance their home to purchase FIP, which would fund their Indexed Universal Life Insurance policy. The Kochs took $300,000 from their home refi and invested in FIP to pay for the policy. Additionally, Whiting convinced Koch's husband to roll his $800,000 401k into a variable annuity. Now, they are out of money and financially devastated.

If you believe you were a victim of predatory lending, investment fraud, or broker misconduct, it is imperative to take action by contacting your local state attorney general.