A Georgia investment broker and a Florida attorney face federal charges for allegedly operating Ponzi schemes that took nearly $2 million from investors, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia.
Roosevelt Tobias "Toby" Bailey, 70, of Duluth, is accused of running two schemes through his company, Borg Global, from October 2018 through October 2022. The first scheme, called the Micro-Cap program, promised to double investors' money by pooling funds to purchase precious stones and metals outside the United States and reselling them domestically at higher prices.
Bailey's second scheme, the Standby Letter of Credit program, promised returns of up to 16 times an investment within 30 to 90 days. Prosecutors allege the funds were never used for either program but instead were diverted to Bailey's personal and business accounts and used to pay earlier investors to sustain the schemes.
Alvin Jones of Tampa, a former prosecutor and practicing attorney, allegedly routed investor money through his law firm's trust accounts to Bailey while keeping a portion for himself. The arrangement created the false appearance that investments were being safeguarded, according to prosecutors.
A federal grand jury indicted Bailey on September 22nd on seven counts of wire fraud, one count of money laundering conspiracy, and three counts of money laundering. Jones faces one count of money laundering conspiracy and three counts of money laundering.
Bailey was arrested and arraigned on October 16th. Jones was arrested and arraigned on October 20th.
The FBI and Securities and Exchange Commission investigated the case. Both men are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
