Fraud Friday – Seeman Holtz Obtained a $4.27 Million PPP Loan Before Multiple Fraud Lawsuits
October 8, 2021
Delaney Sexton
Contributing Editor
Fraud Friday – Seeman Holtz Obtained a $4.27 Million PPP Loan Before Multiple Fraud Lawsuits
Seeman Holtz Property and Casualty LLC was approved for a PPP loan in April 2020. The Florida-based insurance and financial firm applied for the PPP loan through a bank in Massachusetts, Needham Bank. Soon after the loan was approved, other affiliated Seeman Holtz entities began accumulating fraud lawsuits.
The first of the lawsuits was filed in June 2020. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, an IndyCar racing team, sued Seeman Holtz for backing out on their promise to pay half a million dollars to sponsor the team’s 2019 racing series. Seeman Holtz’s attorney claims there was not a finalized agreement for the 2019 races, but the company reaped the benefits of being associated with the racing team. The lawsuit was settled for undisclosed terms in November 2020.
In April and May 2021, two lawsuits were filed by Silver Law Group in the Palm Beach County civil court. These lawsuits represented nine plaintiffs who were allegedly sold promissory notes secured by life settlement policies and other insurance-related assets. They were promised high fixed rates of returns, going as high as an 18% return rate, but they did not receive any payments. Once these lawsuits were filed, the law firm received calls from dozens of other investors who experienced the same fraud scheme. On June 7th, 2021, Silver Law Group filed a class-action suit against Seeman Holtz.
“Our clients were told to invest every dollar they had in the world with these investments. I’ve spoken to investors who had from $100,000 to $10 million invested with Seeman Holtz and they are panicking,” says Scott Silver, Silver Law Group’s managing partner.
A month after the class action lawsuit was filed, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) filed a civil complaint in Palm Beach County alleging multiple violations of the Florida Securities and Investors Protection Act against Seeman Holtz.
“The complaint seeks an injunction, the appointment of a receiver, civil penalties, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, and restitution for investors,” states a release from the Florida OFR.
Marshal Seeman, Eric Holtz, and Brian Schwartz along with 21 affiliated entities allegedly operated a “Ponzi-like investment scheme” that gained $400 million from more than 1,000 investors. Starting in 2011, Seeman Holtz would send unregistered sales representatives into communities to sell these investments to victims, often retirees, through misrepresentations. It is said that using the new investment funds, Seeman Holtz would pay returns to prior investors.
In addition, a former employee and smaller insurance companies have sued Seeman Holtz within the last year.
Sources:
Seeman Holtz PPP Loan Information
OFR Press Release
Florida OFR Civil Complaint
Silver Law Group Press Release
The Palm Beach Post Article – IndyCar Lawsuit