Alpharetta businessman at the center of a $300M Ponzi scheme, federal authorities say

ALPHARETTA, Ga. - Thousands of investors, many in Georgia, have been bilked out of hundreds of millions of dollars. Federal authorities say the man behind it was a financial consultant who had an office in Alpharetta.

Todd Burkhalter is the founder of Drive Planning. His company website states they provide financial planning and investment opportunities.

The Securities and Exchange Commission says Burkhalter was behind a Ponzi scheme that tricked investors out of $300 million to fund his lavish lifestyle, including the purchase of a $3 million yacht. 

The SEC complaint states investors' money was spent on travel and vacations, including $4.6 million for chartering private jets and luxury car services. There's also a ranch in Fanin County, a clothing business in Blue Ridge and a condo in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Todd Burkhalter

The SEC says Burkhalter sold unregistered securities in the form of  "real estate acceleration loans" which Burkhalter described as a "bridge loan opportunity promising 10% in three months."

In 4 years, more than 2,000 people from across the U.S. had invested.

"People want to believe that there's going to be these incredible returns on their investment and that they're going to get rich fairly quickly and fairly inexpensively," said Alan Hames, an attorney who has worked on numerous fraud cases.

The SEC has asked for a receiver. Hames says that means someone will sell Burkhalter's assets to try to return some of the money to investors.

"The truth of it is that it's unlikely that they're going to see anything close to what their investment was," said Hames.

FOX 5 Atlanta tried to contact Todd Burkhalter and his attorney for an interview or a statement. We have not heard back.