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Paramount/Prestige ATM Fund Investigation
Banks Law Office is investigating a Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Prestige Funds and Paramount Management Group.
Prestige Funds raised money from investors purportedly to purchase ATM machines that would be managed and operated by Prestige’s affiliate, Paramount Management Group. Investors were promised handsome profits in exchange.
Unfortunately, instead of using the money raised from investors to purchase and operate ATMs, Prestige and Paramount operated a Ponzi scheme. That is, they used money raised from investors to pay back old investors, instead of investing legitimately in ATMs or ATM-management services.
The scheme has now collapsed, and the FBI raided Paramount.
Banks Law Office is investigating legal claims against individuals and entities who may be responsible for perpetuating this fraudulent scheme. Victims of the scheme are encouraged to contact Banks Law Office as soon as possible.
Prestige Funds’ And Paramount Management Group’s Fraudulent Scheme
Prestige Funds purported to own a network of ATMs. It raised money, at least in part, through private-placement securities sold under “Regulation D.” Because they investments were private placements, they could only be sold to certain sophisticated and/or wealthy investors, and they were not traded on any public exchange like the New York Stock Exchange.
Investors who purchased the securities issued by Prestige were promised returns from the profits generated by the network of ATMs. According to Prestige, it had approximately 2,700 investors.
Prestige purportedly outsourced the management of the ATMs to qualified management companies with “ATM Management Agreements.” Paramount Management Group was one of those management companies.
Pursuant to the ATM Management Agreements, Paramount Management Group would collect the profits that the ATMs generated and make fixed monthly payments to the Prestige Funds.
Notably, Paramount and Prestige are both owned and operated by an individual named Daryl Heller. Because of the common ownership and control, Banks Law Office suspects that Paramount Management Group and Prestige may have colluded with each other to defraud Prestige’s investors.
Prestige Funds Sued Paramount Management Group
In August of 2024, various entities with the suffix “Prestige Fund” (and a few other similar entities with the suffix “WF Velocity”) filed a lawsuit in Lancaster, Pennsylvania against Paramount Management Group, LLC. The lawsuit alleged that Paramount Management Group owed the Prestige Funds monthly payments pursuant to the ATM Management Agreements discussed above.
As noted above, Daryl Heller was the majority owner of Prestige. And in September of 2024, Heller authorized attorneys to withdraw Prestige Funds’ lawsuit against Paramount Management Group (which was also owned by Heller).
Minority owners of Prestige then asked the court to not allow the withdrawal of Prestige’s lawsuit against Paramount.
Paramount Failed To Comply With A Court Order To Identify ATMs
Ultimately, on November 21, 2024, Paramount Management Group, LLC entered into a consent order to pay Prestige $138,156,118.38 in missing payments. On the same day, the court ordered Paramount to supply Prestige with a complete inventory of all ATM units within two days, and to transfer to Prestige within seven days all ownership rights in the ATM units.
Paramount did not comply with the court’s order. Prestige then asked the court to impose sanctions on Paramount for failing to comply with the order, and the court did so. Paramount, however, failed to comply with that court order.
The FBI Raided Paramount Management Group
In December of 2024, the FBI raided an entity responsible for perpetrating the Ponzi scheme, Paramount Management Group, which was owned by Daryl Heller.
Daryl Heller appeared at a court hearing on December 21, 2024 and invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself, suggesting that he is worried about being criminally prosecuted for perpetrating a Ponzi scheme.
Paramount Still Has Not Complied With The Court’s Orders
On December 29, 2024, Paramount filed a brief with the court indicating that it would not be able to comply with the court’s order, including the order to supply information about ATMs it owns.
Paramount stated in the brief that on December 13, 2024, it laid off all of its employees, suggesting that it is now longer in business.
In the brief, Paramount stated that thousands of the ATMs were stored in a warehouse in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and that Prestige was aware of that arrangement. If that statement is true, it shows that Prestige defrauded its investors because Prestige did not tell its investors that thousands of the ATMs it owned were being stored in a warehouse instead of operated.
The brief also concedes that Paramount does not have access to information for many of the 38,000 ATMs it was purportedly managing for Prestige, which is another obvious indication of fraud.
Banks Law Office Investigates Secondarily Liable Parties
Unfortunately, it is rare for victims of Ponzi schemes to recover much of their investment losses from the primary perpetrators of the scheme, such as Derryl Heller in this case. The stolen money has often disappeared.
However, law firms like Banks Law Office can sometimes recover money for investors by pursuing claims against other individuals and entities who may have been partly responsible for the commission of the Ponzi scheme. These responsible parties may include professionals such as lawyers, accountants, or bankers.
Victims Should Contact Banks Law Office
Banks Law Office requests that anybody who invested in Prestige reach out to us. We are interested to learn any information you can provide, and we would be happy to share with you what we know. You can reach us at info@bankslawoffice.com or at 971-678-0036.