Wilmington, NC A Wake Forest, NC man was sentenced today to 135 months imprisonment for wire fraud and ordered to pay $6,040,965.00 in restitution.
According to court documents, Anthony Wayne March operated the non-profit 501(c)(3) entity Asset Trader, located in Rolesville, NC, between 2012 to 2015. March represented that Asset Trader offered educational services to professionals and taxpayers in the area of exit planning. Asset Trader s stated educational mission allowed it to obtain classification as a 28 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization. Asset Trader used its §501(c)(3) tax-exempt status to solicit tax-deductible donations in exchange for charitable gift annuities ( CGAs ) and to recruit referral sources to obtain assets from potential donors. Through Asset Trader, March and his co-conspirators engaged in and executed what is commonly known as a Ponzi scheme to defraud investors by inducing them to invest with Asset Trader.