SEC takes legal action against investment fraudster Christopher Burns

​The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken legal action against Christopher Burns, who has defrauded multiple clients.

The SEC's Complaint, filed with the Georgia Northern District Court on November 12, 2020, brings fraud charges against Burns. The SEC alleges that Burns , an Atlanta-based investment adviser representative, committed the fraud along with several entities under his control, including Investus Advisers LLC, Dynamic Money LLC, Investus Financial LLC, and Peer Connect LLC.

More specifically, from at least February 2017 to September 2020, Burns and the other defendants offered and sold approximately $10 million in promissory notes to dozens of investors in Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida. Many of these investors were clients of Investus Advisers, an advisory firm that Burns founded and owns.

Burns advised his clients and others on an investment opportunity that he claimed was part of a peer-to-peer lending program. He falsely told investors that the program entailed businesses in need of capital that wanted to borrow money from them. In return, Burns falsely told investors that the businesses would make monthly payments to them that included a portion of the principal plus a fixed amount of interest or the businesses would pay them a lump sum when the promissory notes matured.

Burns has been missing since September 24, 2020, a day on which he transferred more than $165,000 in investor funds to one of his personal checking accounts. At the time of his disappearance, Burns knew that the SEC had recently begun investigating his and the other defendants' conduct.

The SEC alleges that the defendants violated Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act") ; Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act"); and Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ("Advisers Act").