A Mississippi-based purported timber harvester used his company to obtain $85 million in a Ponzi scheme, for which he also faces criminal charges, the SEC said.
Arthur Lamar Adams and his company, Madison Timber Properties LLC, raised $85 million from investors who thought the money would go to acquiring timber rights, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint unsealed May 1. The SEC filed its complaint April 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.
Adams allegedly told more than 150 investors his company would use their funds to purchase timber-harvesting rights in Alabama, Florida, ...