A CEO from Georgia, Todd Burkhalter, was sentenced on Friday to two decades in prison for orchestrating a massive $380 million Ponzi scheme. This scheme, it seems, financed a lifestyle that featured luxury items like yachts, private jets, and high-end shopping sprees.
Burkhalter, who founded Atlanta Area Drive Planning LLC, was behind one of Georgia’s largest fraud cases, deceiving over 2,000 investors over several years.
At the hearing, U.S. District Judge Tiffany R. Johnson handed down the 20-year sentence, while two of Burkhalter’s high-ranking associates received sentences of five years or less for their parts in the operation.
His legal team sought a 14-year term, but federal prosecutors aimed a bit higher, recommending a sentence of 17 and a half years as part of a plea agreement reached in January.
“Todd Burkhalter orchestrated what might be the largest Ponzi scheme in Georgia’s history to sustain his extravagant lifestyle. He kept taking advantage of his victims even while under investigation,” remarked Marlo Graham, the FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge.
A previous investigation revealed that a Florida executive had already pleaded guilty to wire fraud related to this case, which spanned several years.
From September 2020 through June 2024, Drive Planning promoted various investment opportunities and raised nearly $400 million, almost immediately repaying earlier investors with this money.
Burkhalter funneled the pooled funds towards personal indulgences, including a $2 million yacht and a condominium in Cabo San Lucas worth $2.1 million. He also spent around $800,000 on vehicles like a motorcoach and two Land Rovers.
On top of that, he took lavish trips and chartered private jets, paid $800,000 to his ex-wife’s attorney, and forked over $320,000 on clothing, jewelry, and beauty treatments.
Two of the fraudulent investment schemes pushed onto victims were called “Real Estate Accelerated Loan” (REAL) and “Real Estate Cash-Out Fund” (CORE Fund).
Burkhalter and his team promoted these investments as “easy and simple,” pressuring victims to tap into retirement accounts, savings, and lines of credit.
REAL was the main vehicle Burkhalter utilized, functioning as a short-term bridging loan, while CORE Fund claimed to guarantee “100% passive income from tax liens.”
The North Georgia State Attorney’s Office stated, “Burkhalter and Drive Planning misled investors into believing their investments were secure, asserting properties were fully collateralized. To keep up this facade, Burkhalter directed his team to fabricate ‘collateral documents’ listing non-existent properties with fake appraisals as collateral.”
Drive Planning’s COO, David Bradford, was involved in the CORE Fund scheme, which led to a loss of $4.1 million for investors.
At 53, Bradford, who is also a pastor and father of six, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud last December.
He faced a four-year prison sentence along with an order to repay $4,297,878.16 to victims, some of whom he knew from church.
Bradford admitted feeling like a “coward” for his involvement, acknowledging his wrongdoing. “I participated in that fraud and profited from it. There’s no excuse for what I did. I deceived myself and, in turn, the people who trusted me,” he expressed during sentencing.
Meanwhile, Julie Edwards, the chief administrative officer at Drive Planning, received a two-year federal prison sentence for her part in laundering $630,000 of investor funds to purchase a home in Cumming, Georgia.
All three individuals involved will be subject to three years of supervised release after serving their prison terms.
