By  George Miller of Shustak Reynolds & Partners, P.C. posted on Monday, January 27, 2014.

The FBI recently announced a 12-count federal indictment against Anthony Barreiro and Ernest Ray Parker, a/k/a Ray Parker Gaylord, two art dealers who reside in San Francisco and Dallas. The indictment alleges that Barreiro and Parker operated a Ponzi scheme fraud through several phony businesses, including ARTLoan Financial LLC, ARTLoan Financial Services Inc. and ARTLoan Financial Service LLC (collectively “ARTLoan”), and convinced investors to invest approximately $3.4 million in their scheme.

According to the indictment, Barreiro and Parker told investors that ARTLoan was actively engaged in the business of lending money to prospective purchasers of high-value art. They then promised investors they would receive regular interest payments and told them their investment would be safe as ARTLoan would retain a security interest in the subject artwork. According to the indictment, however, ARTLoan never entered into any debt financing agreements with prospective art purchasers, and the money obtained from investors to fund those agreements either was embezzled or paid out as “interest payments” to appease current investors and lure additional potential investors.

Barreiro and Parker are accused of operating a classic Ponzi scheme, whereby purported returns to existing investors are paid from funds contributed by new investors. If you have been the victim of a Ponzi Scheme, or are involved in a Ponzi scheme “claw-back” case, please contact our firm to discuss the specifics of your case.

Share This Article