Mantria CEO Troy Wragg in a music video by ICEBLOC.
BULLETIN: Two pitchmen for the Mantria Corp. “green” Ponzi scheme have been ordered to pay millions of dollars in disgorgement and penalties, including a purported wealth coach who advised people who contacted him after the 2009 collapse of Mantria to join the Trump Network MLM “opportunity.”
Mantria purportedly was an environmentally friendly investment opportunity. In reality, the SEC said, it was a massive Ponzi scheme that was selling unregistered securities through unregistered broker-dealers.
Any returns paid to investors “were funded almost exclusively from other investors’ funds,” the SEC said.
Wayde M. McKelvy of Speed of Wealth LLC was ordered by U.S. District Judge Christine M. Arguello of the District of Colorado to pay $6,273,632.78 in disgorgement, interest of $869,141.87 and a civil penalty of $6,273,632.78.
McKelvy, an MLM pitchman who also was pushing Mantria, described himself as a wealth coach with “Wealthalete[s]” as pupils and prospects.
McKelvy’s former wife — Donna McKelvy — was ordered to pay $429,731.84 in disgorgement, interest of $55,172.93 and a civil penalty of $214,865.92.
Arguello ordered even greater disgorgement and penalties against Mantria principals Troy B. Wragg and Amanda E. Knorr.
“The Court ordered Wragg and Knorr to pay $37,031,035.36 in disgorgement plus interest of $3,713,772.06 jointly and severally with Mantria Corporation and a civil penalty of $37,031,035.36 each,” the SEC said today.
All in all, Arguello ordered more than $135 million in monetary relief in the Mantria/Speed of Wealth case, the SEC said.
The agency brought the Mantria Ponzi case in 2009, saying the “promoters fraudulently exaggerated Mantria’s green initiatives and used high-pressure tactics to convince investors to chase the promise of lucrative returns.”
Strangeness marked the early days of the Mantria case. When reporters contacted Wayde McKelvy by email for comment, they received back a pitch for the Trump Network.
“I am totally focused on one thing right now which I believe will be very, very fun and the opportunity to put money in your pocket by owning you’re [sic] own business with the help of ‘The Donald,” one of the McKelvy pitches claimed.
Among other things, Mantria traded on the name of former President Bill Clinton, along with a host of other politicians and celebrities. It is not unusual for scams to attach their names to prominent individuals.
Mantria CEO Troy Wragg in a music video by ICEBLOC.
A federal judge has issued an order that effectively puts a court-appointed receiver in control of dozens of entities related to Mantria Corp. and Speed of Wealth LLC in a search for “recoverable assets.”
One of the receiver’s duties is to determine if fraudulent transfers occurred between or among companies, according to the order.
The order, which is designed to prevent the dissipation of assets and maneuvering to hide or transfer money, is breathtaking because it covers not only Mantria and Speed of Wealth, but also “all of their subsidiaries, parent companies, and. . . interests in any affiliated entities of any kind.”
All in all, the order applies to a staggering total of at least 55 entities, a figure that demonstrates the enormous task of unraveling a modern-day fraud amid a maze of corporations.
The SEC sued Mantria and Speed of Wealth in November, amid allegations that Mantria was running a “green” Ponzi scheme that focused on biochar and a “carbon negative” housing community in rural Tennessee that purported to be environmentally friendly. Speed of Wealth allegedly helped Mantria get investment clients.
Appointed receiver in the case was John Paul Anderson of Alvarez & Marsal Dispute Analysis & Forensic Services LLC.
U.S. District Judge Christine M. Arguello listed dozens of names, perhaps signaling that the order could become even broader by noting that it was “not limited to” the names on the initial list. She also ordered Anderson to come up with a liquidation plan and warned the entities and their agents not to meddle in receivership affairs.
Anderson was granted the authority to seek the court’s permission to place the entities in bankruptcy if the circumstances warrant such an approach. Arguello minced no words when ordering parties not to meddle. She specifically warned them not to “harass” Anderson or interfere in his duties as receiver (italics/bold added).
“The Receivership Defendants and all persons receiving notice of this Order by personal service, facsimile or otherwise, are hereby restrained and enjoined from directly or indirectly taking any action or causing any action to be taken, without the express written agreement of the Receiver, which would:
A. Interfere with the Receiver’s efforts to take control, possession, or management of any Receivership Property; such prohibited actions include but are not limited to, using self-help or executing or issuing or causing the execution or issuance of any court attachment, subpoena, replevin, execution, or other process for the purpose of impounding or taking possession of or interfering with or creating or enforcing a lien upon any Receivership Property;
B. Hinder, obstruct or otherwise interfere with the Receiver in the performance of his duties; such prohibited actions include but are not limited to, concealing, destroying or altering records or information;
C. Dissipate or otherwise diminish the value of any Receivership Property; such prohibited actions include but are not limited to, releasing claims or disposing, transferring, exchanging, assigning or in any way conveying any Receivership Property, enforcing judgments, assessments or claims against any Receivership Property or any Receivership Defendant, attempting to modify, cancel, terminate, call, extinguish, revoke or accelerate (the due date), of any lease, loan, mortgage, indebtedness, security agreement or other agreement executed by any Receivership Defendant or which otherwise affects any Receivership Property; or
D. Interfere with or harass the Receiver, or interfere in any manner with the exclusive jurisdiction of this Court over the Receivership Estates.
Here is the initial list of entities covered under Arguello’s order:
Mantria Realty LLC
Mantria Communities Inc.
Mantria Real Estate Opportunities Group LLC
Mantria Investments LLC
Mantria Financial LLC
Mantria Capital Advisors LLC
Mantria Industries LLC
Carbon Diversion Inc.
Mantria Records LLC
The Mantria Foundation Inc.
Mantria Realty FL LLC
Mantria Communities LP
Mantria Real Estate Opportunities Group I LP
KITN Investments LLC
The Mantria Renewable Energy Fund LP
The Mantria Place Renewable Energy Site Development LP
The Mantria Industries Hohenwald Tennessee Eco-Industrial Center Site Development L.P.
Earth Mate Technologies LLC
Clean Energy Components LLC
EternaGreen Capital LLC
The EternaGreen International Carbon Economy Network LLC
EternaGreen University
EternaGreen Global Corporation
C&M Industrial Center LLC
Mantria Industries II LLC
Carbon Diversion Carlsbad New Mexico Manufacturing Plant LLC
Indian Trail Estates LLC
Mantria Village LLC
Mantria Bluffs LLC
IronBridge Properties LLC
Legacy Ridge LLC
Iris Village LLC
Mantria Place LLC
The Mantria Group LLC
Mantria Indian Trail Development LLC
Indian Trail Estates Phase I LLC
Indian Trail Estates Phase II LLC
Indian Trail Estates Phase III LLC
Indian Trail Estates Homeowners Association Inc.
Legacy Ridge Homeowners Association Inc.
The Mantria Place Homeowners Association Inc.
SOW Trust Deed LLC
SOW Hard Money Loans Investment Club LLC
SOW Hard Money Loans II LLC
SOW Trust Deed Group II LLC
Trust Deed Group I LLC
SOW Hard Money 50 Economic Stimulus Investment Club LLC
SOW Mantria Income LLC
SOW Mantria Diversification LLC
SOW Mantria 5% LLC
SOW Mantria Place 25% LLC
SOW Mantria 25% LLC
Speed of Wealth Investments Gold Club LLC
Trust Deed 3.0 LLC
SOW MI 25% Sale of Systems LLC
Arguello said she recognized “that not all of Speed of Wealth, LLC’s assets and/or business may be related, directly or indirectly, to the conduct alleged in the Commission’s Complaint.”
Named individual defendants in the alleged $30 million fraud by the SEC in November were Mantria CEO Troy Wragg and Mantria COO Amanda Knorr, along with the company itself. Also named defendants were Speed of Wealth and its principals, Wayde and Donna McKelvy, formerly husband and wife.
One of the companies under the Mantria umbrella was Mantria Records LLC, which purportedly promoted a hip-hop duo known as ICEBLOC.
Two months after Troy Wragg accepted a kudo from former President Bill Clinton for environmentally friendly business practices, Wragg was implicated by the SEC in an alleged "green" Ponzi scheme. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) later issued an Investment Alert warning the public about a relatively new form of fraud: “green energy investments†that trade on investors’ affinity for keeping the planet clean.
The case became notable for reasons beyond its size and scope. Wragg, for instance, appeared alongside former President Bill Clinton at the 5th Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in New York Sept. 25.
CGI had lauded Mantria in part for helping to “mitigate global warming” through its business practices. Just two months later Mantria and Speed of Wealth were accused of a colossal fraud.
After the CGI event in New York, Mantria and Speed of Wealth seized on Clinton’s name and the names of prominent individuals who attended the event to produce marketing materials used to entice investors.
Even after the SEC brought the charges, reporters who tried to contact Speed of Wealth received email pitches to join money-making opportunities.
Video promotions by Mantria and Speed of Wealth were notable for dropping the names of President Obama, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, President Laurent Gbagbo of the Ivory Coast, Mike Duke, CEO of Wal-Mart, Muhtar Kent, CEO of the Coca-Cola Co. and actor Matt Damon.
Leeching off the names of celebrities, famous businesspeople and politicians to sell fraudulent financial schemes is a common tactic among multilevel marketing (MLM) and Ponzi scammers. By implying that prominent people endorse a product or service, the fraudsters hope to turn skeptics into clients.
Claims were made in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme case, for example, that ASD President Andy Bowdoin had received an award from President George W. Bush for a lifetime of business achievement. The award proved to be the so-called Congressional “Medal of Distinction,” which is given for campaign contributions to the National Republican Congressional Committee and signifies only the ability to write a check for the purchase of banquet tickets.
In an SEC case last month, the agency alleged that a Staten Island investment-advisory business known as Gryphon Holdings Inc. told clients that famed businessman George Soros backed the company. A purported “testimonial” from Soros was fraudulent, the SEC said.
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.â€
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.
It what may become an embarrassment to President Obama, Former President Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a man the SEC now says was operating a $30 million Ponzi scheme appeared alongside President Clinton at the 5th Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in New York Sept. 25.
Obama’s name and the names of both Clintons were dropped in a video on the website of Speed of Wealth LLC, a Colorado company accused today of promoting the scheme for Mantria Corp. of Pennsylvania. Other names dropped on the site included former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, President Laurent Gbagbo of the Ivory Coast, Mike Duke, CEO of Wal-Mart, Muhtar Kent, CEO of the Coca-Cola Co. and actor Matt Damon.
All of the individuals were among the prominent attendees of President Clinton’s CGI function.
There are no assertions that any of the politicians, prominent business executives or celebrities who attended the CGI event had any knowledge of the alleged scheme. But Troy Wragg, CEO of Mantria Corp., one of the companies accused in the scheme, appeared next to President Clinton and Secretary of State Clinton on the stage in New York.
The Speed of Wealth video featured snap shots of famous people who attended the CGI event. It concluded with Bill Clinton’s remarks recorded on video, with Wragg, other attendees and the Clintons in a group pose.
Speed of Wealth was a sales outlet for the Mantria scheme, the SEC charged today.
Screen shot: Troy Wragg, whom the SEC said today was a manager at a janitorial company before becoming CEO of Mantria Corp., next to President Clinton at the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Sept. 25.
Mantria Corp.’s 28-year-old chairman and CEO, Troy Wragg, whom the SEC said was “employed as a manager for a small janitorial services company” prior to getting into the Ponzi business, was prominently featured in a video on Speed of Wealth’s Website.
In the video, Wragg is standing next to President Clinton, who had acknowledged Mantria for its environmental commitment at the CGI event Sept. 25.
Mantria even got a mention in a CGI news release after committing “to help mitigate global warming through the use of its Carbon Fields site, where Mantria will perform trials on their product BioChar, a carbon-negative charcoal, to prove how this product can sequester carbon dioxide, improve soil quality when buried, and reduce emissions in developing countries.”
Today in Denver, however, the SEC said BioChar was part of the alleged Ponzi scheme, which may involve $30 million or more.
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.”
One SEC official said there was little “green” about the firm, except perhaps for its love of money.
“These promoters fraudulently exaggerated Mantria’s green initiatives and used high-pressure tactics to convince investors to chase the promise of lucrative returns,” said Don Hoerl, director of the SEC’s Denver Regional Office. “In reality, the only green these promoters seemed interested in was investors’ money.”
Charged today were Speed of Wealth and two of its executives: Wayde McKelvy of Sunny Isle Beach, Fla., and Donna McKelvy, of Parker, Colo.
Also charged were Mantria and two of its executives: Wragg, who lives in Philadelphia, and Amanda Knorr, also of Philadelphia.
Wayde and Donna McKelvy previously were married, and “particularly targeted elderly investors or those approaching retirement age to finance such ‘green’ initiatives,” the SEC said.
Mantria was a “supposed ‘carbon negative’ housing community in rural Tennessee,” the SEC said.
But the “green” representations “were laced with bogus claims, and investors were falsely promised enormous returns on their investments ranging from 17 percent to ‘hundreds of percent’ annually,” the SEC said.
The agency charged that “Mantria’s environmental initiatives have not generated any significant cash, and any returns paid to investors have been funded almost exclusively from other investors’ contributions.”
