GBT Tulsa

LOS ANGELES – The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged four people and a Phoenix-based company with securities fraud for orchestrating a mortgage lending scam that raised nearly $200 million from investors.
The civil complaint filed in Phoenix by Los Angeles agents Tuesday accuses Radical Bunny LLC of making false and misleading statements to hundreds of people about the safety and performance of the investments. The money was pooled to another Phoenix company that dealt in short-term loans to real estate developers.
The company was able to attract investors through word of mouth between their friends and relatives.
The SEC seeks the return of ill-gotten gains as well as penalties against all defendants, including two accountants, a pharmacist and a grade school principal.