Todd Burkhalter was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison Friday for masterminding a $380 million Ponzi scheme through his Georgia financial firm.
Burkhalter, 59, the founder and CEO of Drive Planning LLC, received the maximum penalty allowed by law from US District Court Judge Tiffany R. Johnson in Atlanta. The Florida executive had pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in January as part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors, who had recommended 17 and a half years behind bars. His own attorneys had asked for 14 years.
“Todd Burkhalter organized what is likely the largest Ponzi scheme in Georgia history to fund an extravagant lifestyle. He even continued to exploit victims while under federal investigation,” Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta Marlo Graham said in a statement.
Between September 2020 and June 2024, Drive Planning marketed investment opportunities to potential investors and secured nearly $400 million in funds. The firm immediately used new investor money to pay off earlier investors in classic Ponzi fashion, while Burkhalter skimmed millions for personal spending.
Burkhalter’s expenditures included $2 million for a yacht he renamed Live More, more than $2 million toward a $4.2 million condominium in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and $800,000 on vehicles including a 2020 Prevost Marathon motorcoach and two 2024 Land Rovers. He also spent millions on luxury travel and private jet charters, $800,000 to pay his ex-wife’s attorney, and another $320,000 on clothing, jewelry, and beauty treatments.
The firm pushed two main investment vehicles on victims: the “Real Estate Acceleration Loan” opportunity, or “REAL,” and the “Cash Out Real Estate Fund,” or “CORE Fund.” Burkhalter and his associates claimed the investments were “easy and simple,” and encouraged victims to pull money from retirement accounts, savings, and lines of credit.
REAL was pitched as short-term 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 in a statement. “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.”
Two of Burkhalter’s executives were sentenced earlier this week for their roles in the scheme. Drive Planning COO David Bradford, 53, a pastor and father of six from Peachtree Corners, Georgia, pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was sentenced to four years and three months in prison and ordered to pay $4,297,878.16 in restitution to victims, some of whom he had met through church.
Bradford branded himself a “coward” for his participation during his sentencing hearing.
“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.
Drive Planning Chief Administrative Officer Julie Edwards, 59, of Cumming, Georgia, was sentenced to two years in federal prison for laundering proceeds and using $630,000 of investors’ funds to purchase a home. All three executives will face three years of supervised release after completing their prison terms.
The scheme ensnared more than 2,000 investors across multiple states, including Indiana families who trusted the firm with their savings. Patrick and Laura McLoughlin of Noblesville, Indiana, believed they were investing in their future when they handed over their money.
“Everything sounded great,” Patrick McLoughlin said. “I thought I was going to get a 10% return every 90 days. That sounds great to me!”
Instead, the couple likely lost $250,000.
“It is still shocking, but we kind of felt like something was going on,” Patrick McLoughlin added. “As things progressed with Drive, and seeing some of the events they hosted and the trips they took, we started questioning what was going on. It didn’t seem right.”
The McLoughlins said Drive Planning provided statements that made it appear their investments were making money, but looking back, the documents did not seem official.
“Not everything is as good as it sounds,” Patrick McLoughlin said. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
The act that formally landed Burkhalter in prison was clicking send on an email on November 28, 2022. The wire fraud charge involved a message from Burkhalter to the owner of a Maryland-based financial services company in which he mischaracterized his firm’s relationship with a developer, claiming there existed “wholly owned real estate which serves as a collateral.” The developer had actually sent a cease-and-desist letter to Drive Planning in June 2023 and sued two months later.
Federal investigators revealed that Drive Planning had loaned less than $2 million to one well-known developer and then leveraged that relationship to tell investors it had an enduring partnership, even after the developer tried to cut ties. Burkhalter failed to disclose the dispute to investors and continued raising millions.
As part of his sentence, Burkhalter was ordered to repay his victims nearly $234 million. A court-appointed receiver is working to recover funds and sell assets for distribution to investors.