The order also freezes the assets of the defendants and relief defendants. Finally, the order appoints an examiner to determine how funds of allegedly defrauded investors were distributed and spent. The Court will determine later the amount of ill-gotten gains, if any, defendants and relief defendants must disgorge and the amount of civil penalties, if any, to be paid by defendants.
Most investors are Indiana residents and several are elderly.
Numerous government agencies, including the Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, however, have warned the public that trading programs in prime bank instruments do not exist and are fraudulent. Besides Brinker, Bentz, Castlerock, and Wellington Bank, the defendants are several U.S., Grenadan, and Bahamian corporate entities that helped facilitate the scheme. The complaint also names as relief defendants three companies associated with Brinker and Bentz, Alpha Advantage II, Inc., Eleven Eighty-Five, LP and Steadfast Ministries, Inc., that received investor money. The defendants and relief defendants consented to the court's order without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint. The Commission acknowledges the assistance of the Indiana Securities Division, the Kentucky Division of Securities, and the Delaware Division of Securities in this matter.