A court may rule shortly on whether or not to freeze the bank accounts of Rochester Developer Robert C. Morgan. The request comes from the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission, which has begun a civil action against Morgan accusing him of running a Ponzi scheme.
Morgan and top officials from his company were also indicted this week on criminal charges of mortgage and insurance fraud by allegedly inflating the value of Morgan's properties.
The SEC says Morgan also raised and misused funds from individual investors to the tune of $115 million, promising them an 11 percent return on their investment in his 14-state property empire. Instead they say he used the money as a private slush fund, paying off some of his loans and using the money he was taking in to pay off earlier investors.
The SEC says Morgan's investors are owned more than $63 million. The case will be argued in early June.