SEC Charges Three Additional Advisors for Recommending Horizon Ponzi Scheme to Investors

Posted on June 22nd, 2022 at 1:17 PM
SEC Charges Three Additional Advisors for Recommending Horizon Ponzi Scheme to Investors

From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law:

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed suit against Michael Mooney, Britt Wright, and Penny Flippen pertaining to their engagement with a Ponzi scheme, which raised at least $110 million from nearly 400 investors. 

According to the SEC, Mooney, Wright, and Flippen each worked for Livingston Group Asset Management d/b/a Southport Capital. The SEC alleges that the advisors recommended that their clients invest at least $62 million in Horizon Private Equity, which was a private investment fund operated by John Woods, Southport’s former owner and manager. The SEC previously charged Woods and Southport with several counts of securities fraud for operating Horizon as a Ponzi scheme in August 2021. 

The complaint further alleges that numerous clients were elderly or inexperienced investors who communicated that they were seeking safe investment opportunities. However, the advisors allegedly collected undisclosed compensation for recommending Horizon Private Equity to the clients. The SEC additionally alleges that the advisors falsely informed clients that Horizon would use the funds to purchase safe investments and that Horizon would pay investors a guaranteed rate of return. Nevertheless, Horizon utilized investor funds to make Ponzi-style payments to earlier investors. 

Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, regulatory and disciplinary matters.

 
 

Tags: eccleston law, sec, ponzi scheme

Return to Archive

TESTIMONIALS

Previous
Next

You guys are good!

Mike L.

LATEST NEWS AND ARTICLES

December 2, 2025
Crypto's Leverage Shakeout Exposes Structural Risks

The crypto market’s recent downturn erased nearly $20 billion in leveraged positions within hours and half a trillion dollars in market value over a single weekend.

December 1, 2025
UBS Winds Down Funds as First Brands Bankruptcy Ripples Through Global Markets

UBS Group AG has begun liquidating two invoice finance funds with direct exposure to First Brands Group, marking one of the earliest moves by a major financial institution to contain the fallout from the bankrupt auto-parts supplier’s collapse, as reported by Bloomberg Law.

November 26, 2025
Former GWG Chair Charged in Alleged $150 Million Fraud Scheme as Investor Losses Mount

Federal prosecutors have intensified scrutiny of the long-running collapse of GWG Holdings Inc., unveiling criminal charges against Bradley Heppner, the former chair of both GWG and Beneficient.