Judge Enters Injunction Against Mantria/Speed Of Wealth Figure Donna McKelvy In ‘Green’ Ponzi Scheme Case; Speed Of Wealth Website Goes Missing

A federal judge has issued an order that enjoins Speed of Wealth principal Donna McKelvy from breaking securities laws and disgorges her ill-gotten gains from the alleged Mantria Corp./Speed of Wealth Ponzi scheme.

McKelvy, 43, of Parker, Colo., consented to the order without admitting or denying the allegations in a complaint filed by the SEC Nov. 16. The Speed of Wealth website, which once prominently featured a video containing images of President Obama, former President Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, now is returning a server error and will not load.

U.S. District Judge Christine M. Arguello entered the order against McKelvy yesterday.

“Donna M. McKelvy is prohibited, directly or indirectly, from accepting funds from investors for investment in any investment program,” Arguello wrote in the order.

She further ordered McKelvy to “pay disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, prejudgment interest thereon, and a civil penalty.” The amounts will be determined later, and Arguello said McKelvy “will be precluded from arguing that she did not violate the federal securities laws as alleged in the Complaint” and “may not challenge the validity of the Consent or this Order of Permanent Injunction.”

The SEC said McKevly was a principal in Speed of Wealth and used “the titles of president of Speed of Wealth in charge of investor relations and vice president of Speed of Wealth in charge of investor relations.

“She is a 25 percent owner of Mantria Industries LLC, one of the Mantria subsidiaries that has actively raised funds from investors, as well as three other Mantria subsidiaries. She does not hold any securities licenses, and she has never been associated with a registered broker-dealer,” the SEC said.

Also charged in the SEC complaint last month were McKelvy’s ex-husband, Wayde McKelvy, 46, of Sunny Isle Beach, Fla.; Mantria CEO Troy Wragg, 28, of Philadelphia, and Amanda Knorr, 26, also of Philadelphia. Knorr is Mantria’s COO.

Wayde and Donna McKelvy “particularly targeted elderly investors or those approaching retirement age to finance” Mantria’s “green initiatives,” the SEC said.

The SEC alleged that Mantria operated a $30 million Ponzi scheme pushed by Speed of Wealth.

Mantria’s biochar, a carbon-negative charcoal, was used to appeal to environmentally conscious investors, the SEC said.

“Despite claims that Mantria was the world’s leading manufacturer and distributor of biochar and had multiple facilities producing it at a rate of 25 tons per day,” the SEC said, “Mantria has never sold any biochar and has just one facility engaged in testing biochar for possible future commercial production.”

Both Mantria and Speed of Wealth showcased a video assembled in part from materials published by the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), one of President Clinton’s signature undertakings since leaving office in 2001.

Wragg appeared alongside President Clinton and Secretary of State Clinton at the CGI annual meeting in New York in September, and images of prominent attendees were placed in the video, including an image of President Obama.

Less than two months later the SEC alleged that Mantria was a Ponzi scheme.

Mantria and Wayde McKelvy have denied wrongdoing.