Operators of $18M Ponzi scheme restrained

The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced it has filed a complaint, and obtained a temporary restraining order and an asset freeze to stop an alleged Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Shakopee, Minnesota, residents Jason Dodd Bullard and Angela Romero-Bullard and the entity they control, Bullard Enterprises LLC. The SEC also named four relief defendants in the action – entities controlled by Bullard and Romero-Bullard that received investor funds from the alleged scheme.

According to the complaint, from at least 2007 to 2021, the defendants raised approximately $17.6 million from as many as 200 investors to invest in Bullard Enterprises' purported Flagship and Platinum Funds. Bullard and Romero-Bullard allegedly told investors – most of whom were friends and family, including many elderly retirees – that their investments would be used to trade foreign currencies, and sent investors account statements showing that their accounts were increasing in value. In reality, according to the complaint, Bullard Enterprises stopped trading in foreign currencies in 2015, and the defendants simply used new investor money to pay purported "returns" to existing investors. Bullard and Romero-Bullard also allegedly misappropriated investors' money to support other businesses they owned, including a horse racing stable, limousine service, and health and fitness studio.