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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Retirees Say ‘Adviser’ Blew Their Life’s Savings

GREENSBORO, N.C. (CN) - A retired couple claims Jason Jubert, president of American Benefit Concepts, blew their life's savings of $236,000 in an unregistered security, Diversified Lending Group of Sherman Oaks, Calif., which was run by a recidivist felon who swiped $17 million of the $260 million he raised.

The plaintiffs say Jubert and his co-defendant employee Erin Cable promised them 12% annual returns - "a guaranteed value of $377,600 in five years" - but "failed to ascertain" that "Bruce Friedman, president of Diversified Lending Group, Inc., was a convicted felon who had served time in prison ... [and had] diverted $17 million of the total $260 million invested to support a lavish lifestyle, including luxury homes, cars, vacations, and jewelry, and allowed his girlfriend Tina Placourakis to misappropriate over $275,000 of the money invested."

Plaintiffs say Diversified Lending Group was an unregistered security and its "so-called audited financial statements ... were prepared by an unlicensed auditor with a single employee."

After they turned over their money, the plaintiffs say, the SEC sued Diversified Lending Group, shut it down, and placed it in receivership. They want their money back. They are represented in Guilford County Court by Norman Smith with Smith, James & Rowlett.

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