Plea Expected In North Carolina Ponzi Scheme
May 23--A Gastonia man who is accused of cheating investors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars is expected to enter a plea on Thursday morning.
Micah Christopher Wilson, 61, was arrested in June 2015 and has been charged with two counts of felony security fraud, two counts of obtaining property by a false pretenses and intimidating a witness. He was expected to enter a plea on Tuesday morning, but the case was postponed because David Wilson, Micah's brother, needed to be present to sign papers related to the case.
According to attorney Bill Moore, who is representing David Wilson as well as D&M LLC, a business owned by the brothers, David Wilson was in a car accident, causing him to miss the court date. Moore is not representing Micah Wilson. David Wilson does not face criminal charges in the case.
This isn't the first time the case has been postponed. Micah Wilson's former lawyer died just as those affected by the scheme were hoping to finally wrap things up. Gastonia resident Bob Whisnant claims Michah Wilson stole several hundred thousand dollars stolen from him. The two-year-long process since Micah Wilson's arrest has been a headache, Whisnant said.
Whisnant said he had known Wilson for approximately 15 years before he was arrested. They met when Wilson was working in insurance, Whisnant said, and one day Wilson came to his door asking if he was happy with how the bank was handling his money. Whisnant wasn't, so he said he transferred his $300,000 retirement savings to Wilson to manage.
Meet Bob Whisnant. He had several hundred thousand dollars stolen from him by Wilson, most of which was his retirement money pic.twitter.com/LIc2EIzgWf
-- Alyssa Pressler (@AlyssaPress71) May 23, 2017
"I trusted him as a friend," Whisnant said.
As the years went by, Whisnant said Wilson left his insurance agency and began working from home. He took Whisnant's money with him, and later asked for a $200,000 loan to start a real estate business. Whisnant agreed, so long as a contract was drawn up with some sort of collateral. Whisnant said according to the contract he would have ultimately made $500,000 after giving $200,000 of his original $300,000 to Wilson's new company.
Then, Whisnant said, Wilson also took money out of his life insurance policy without permission, and also talked with his wife who emptied her savings account and gave him money toward the business. He isn't sure exactly how much money he lost to Wilson, but Whisnant knows the action has left he and his wife broke.
"We have no finances anymore for our future," he said. "That's what we're upset about."
Despite this, Whisnant still believes Wilson would have paid him back eventually, had he not been caught. Instead, now he receives payments from David Wilson through a limited liability corporation, which Micah is a 50 percent partner in.
Whisnant claims he had the largest sum of money stolen from him by Wilson, but he wasn't the only person affected by what he called Wilson's "ponzi scheme." Moore said there were eight more people in Gaston and surrounding counties who had various amounts of money stolen. All-in-all, more than $550,000 was involved.
He considered Wilson a friend. He said if he wasn't caught, Wilson probably would have paid him back. pic.twitter.com/P4ctx0u6Kb
-- Alyssa Pressler (@AlyssaPress71) May 23, 2017
Whisnant is unsure of what Wilson told others in order to get their money. He's hoping that when the case is finished he will get the $500,000 that was originally promised to him.
Barring anymore postponements, this Thursday David Wilson is expected to sign a deed of trust and a charging order which will help set up the payments for those affected by his brother's actions. Then, Wilson is expected to enter his plea. At this time it's not known what that plea will be, but attorneys are not expecting he will serve anymore jail time.
"I'd like to get this over with," Whisnant said. "It's been going on two years. It's stressing us out."
You can reach Alyssa Pressler at 704-869-1819 or Twitter.com/AlyssaPress71.
___
(c)2017 Gaston Gazette, Gastonia, N.C.
Visit Gaston Gazette, Gastonia, N.C. at www.gastongazette.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
CBC Again Urges Trump to Learn from its “Moral and Responsible” Alternative Budget
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News