4D Circle LLC a/k/a Enoetics, Mantford C. Hawkins, and David E. Bell – Goodman & Nekvasil P.A. May Recover Investor Losses
Securities and Exchange Commission Charges 4D Circle LLC a/k/a Enoetics, Mantford C. Hawkins, and David E. Bell
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against two Fort Worth residents and their company for defrauding investors in a commercial real estate investment scheme. At the SEC’s request, U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means has entered an asset freeze and appointed a receiver over the company.
The SEC’s complaint, filed on April 13, 2017 in Fort Worth federal court, alleges that, since early 2014, Mantford C. Hawkins and David E. Bell – the CEO and COO, respectively, of 4D Circle LLC – raised at least $9 million from 50 investors in seven states and Canada. The complaint alleges that 4D Circle purported to be “a wealth creation company” focused on acquiring apartment and office buildings, to which it would then apply supposedly proprietary technology and managerial practices to generate “greater profitability [with] less risk for our investors.” The company’s website and written offering materials allegedly elaborated on these claims, asserting for instance that investors could earn returns of 30% within a 9-month time frame; investments were “bonded”; and investor funds were protected through the use of escrow accounts and third-party oversight. The offering materials also allegedly included “case studies” of particular properties the company had acquired, which purported to demonstrate the profitability of its model.
But, according to the SEC’s complaint, these representations and case studies were false. The SEC contends, for instance, that Hawkins and Bell knew that:
-
The properties they had acquired were not generating anywhere near sufficient revenue to support the returns promised to investors.
-
The “bond” supposedly backing the investments was inadequate to cover the returns promised to investors and, in fact, did not apply to most of the properties 4D Circle had acquired.
-
Purported cost savings and earnings reflected in the case studies were unrealistic, since Bell, with Hawkins’ knowledge, frequently understated properties’ operating costs by capitalizing otherwise routine expenses or by ignoring them altogether.
- There was no escrowing or third-party oversight of investor funds; to the contrary, because 4D Circle’s properties typically failed to generate sufficient revenue to cover expenses, Hawkins and Bell regularly shifted funds from one project to other, unrelated projects. And in some cases, they used new investor funds to pay interest owed to earlier investors in a different project.
Investors in 4D Circle LLC a/k/a Enoetics May Recover their Losses with Goodman & Nekvasil, P.A.
If you invested in 4D Circle LLC a/k/a Enoetics, Goodman & Nekvasil, P.A. may help you. Goodman & Nekvasil, P.A., a Clearwater, Florida, law firm with a national practice representing victimized investors, has recovered more than $180 million dollars on behalf of victimized investors.
All our cases are handled on a purely contingency fee basis by Kalju Nekvasil, Esq., formerly regional counsel with the NASD, now known as FINRA. Kalju Nekvasil, Esq. has practiced in this area of the law for more than 35 years.
There is no charge for an evaluation of your case. Further, we handle our cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that unless we recover money for you, we charge no attorney’s fee. Unless you recover any money, you pay us nothing, not even the costs and expenses which the firm will advance on your behalf.
If you incurred investment losses in 4D Circle LLC a/k/a Enoetics and would like your case evaluated by a securities attorney (again, there is no charge for an evaluation and all cases are handled on a purely contingency fee basis), please contact us.