On Friday, the CEO of a Georgia-based financial advising company was sentenced to 20 years in prison after orchestrating a $380 million Ponzi scheme that financed his extravagant lifestyle, including yachts, private jets, and luxurious shopping sprees.
Todd Burkhalter, the mastermind behind Atlanta-area Drive Planning LLC, executed one of Georgia’s biggest fraudulent schemes, deceiving over 2,000 investors over several years and siphoning off millions of dollars.
The 59-year-old Burkhalter received his two-decade federal prison sentence from US District Court Judge Tiffany R. Johnson. Meanwhile, two of his executive colleagues involved in the scheme were given sentences of less than five years earlier in the week.
Burkhalter’s legal team had petitioned for a 14-year sentence, contrasting with federal prosecutors who had previously proposed a 17-and-a-half-year sentence as part of a plea deal arranged in January.
Marlo Graham, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, remarked, “Todd Burkhalter orchestrated what is likely Georgia’s largest Ponzi scheme to support his own luxurious lifestyle, continuing to exploit victims even during the federal investigation.”
The Florida executive had pleaded to wire fraud charges following a years-long investigation into the shady ventures.
Between September 2020 and June 2024, Drive Planning marketed investment opportunities to potential investors to secure nearly $400 million in funds, even immediately using the money to pay off early investors.
Burkhalter then used the pool of cash for high-end personal spending, including buying a $2 million yacht, a $2.1 million condo in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, dropped $800,000 on vehicles, including a motorcoach and two Land Rovers.
He also spent millions on luxury travel, chartering private jets, $800,000 to pay his ex-wife’s attorney and another $320,000 on clothing, jewelry, and beauty treatments.
Two of the investment options pushed on victims were the “Real Estate Acceleration Loan” opportunity (“REAL”) and the “Cash Out Real Estate Fund” (“CORE Fund”)
Burkhalter and crew claimed the investments were “easy and simple,” and encouraged their victims to use money from retirement accounts, savings, and lines of credit.
REAL was the primary investment vehicle Burkhalter used in the scheme as short term-loans – bridge loans – while CORE Fund was promised to provide “100% Passive Income from Tax Liens.”
“Burkhalter and Drive Planning deceived investors into believing their investments were safe by claiming they were fully collateralized by real estate,” the Northern Georgia US Attorney’s Office said. “To perpetuate these lies, Burkhalter directed Drive Planning to prepare fraudulent ‘collateral sheets’ identifying properties—some of which did not even exist— with fictitious valuations that purportedly served as collateral for investments.”
Drive Planning COO David Bradford helped Burkhalter in the CORE Fund ruse that stole $4.1 million from investors
Bradford, a 53-year-old pastor and father of six, pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
He was sentenced to four years behind bars and was ordered to pay $4,297,878.16 in restitution to victims, some of whom he had met in church.
Bradford branded himself a “coward” for being a part of the scheme.
“I participated in that fraud and I benefited from it, and there’s no excuse for what I did. I deceived myself and, in turn, I deceived the people who trusted me,” he said during his sentencing hearing.
Drive Planning Chief Administrative Officer Julie Edwards was sentenced to two years in federal prison for her role in the scheme of laundering proceeds and used $630,000 of the investors’ funds to purchase a home in Cumming, Ga.
All three con artists will face three years of supervised release after their prison sentences.