A mysterious, upstart company registered as a corporation in Ocala, Fla., has been ordered by the attorney general of South Carolina to stop selling securities and collecting money in the state.
Attorney General Henry McMaster ordered the company — PPE-Life Inc. (PPE) — to “cease and desist” after the state’s Securities Division opened a probe May 14 amid reports the company was holding recruitment meetings in Sumter, S.C. Sumter, a military town, is home to Shaw Air Force Base.
PPE held a meeting at a hotel about 5 miles away from the base May 20, according to records. It was unclear if members of the military were in attendance, but South Carolina has had a problem with fraud schemes targeted at military members and churchgoers.
Two PPE representatives were named in the cease-and-desist order: John Barter, who is listed as an officer of the firm in Florida records, and Rick Crocker. Barter’s address was listed as Ocala, and Crocker’s was listed as Wilmington, N.C.
Investigators said people who attended the May 20 meeting were told that PPE was the marketing arm of an unspecified “international bank.” When asked to identify the bank, Barter allegedly responded that “I am the bank.”
Attendees also were kept in the dark about other details, which were dismissed as unimportant for the purposes of the meeting.
Barter and Crocker “refused to respond to questions from attendees regarding the method by which PPE would make money or extend loans, or the products that PPE would invest in,” authorities said.
The purpose of the meeting was to “sign up.” Details would be “sorted out at a later time,” authorities said attendees were told.
Attendees were asked to pay $599 as an “initial membership fee” and a $50 per month “maintenance fee” thereafter and advised that returns of “up to $440,000 per year” could be earned through PPE. Â Attendees further were told they’d become eligible for loans at a “significant discount” and that funds collected from participants would be used to purchase “debentures earning 40% to 50% interest.”
People who signed up were told they could earn “1.5% of loan payments on loans made to any members who subsequently join[ed] PPE” and also would receive a “free” credit card with a $1,000 limit, authorities said.
Meanwhile, attendees were told that PPE had spent “at least $1.5 million to ensure that the federal government would not shut down PPE” and that “older” members would benefit as “new members were recruited,” authorities said.
At the May 20 meeting, someone raised a concern that the government could shut down the program, authorities said.
In response to the concern, Barter said, “the Feds love us,” authorities said.
They added that attendees were told that meetings had been held in Sumter for “at least six weeks.”
Neither Barter nor Crocker is licensed to sell securities in South Carolina, authorties said.
Read the cease-and-desist order against PPE, Barter and Crocker.