Two Chattanooga men who allegedly bilked a host of investors out of more than $5 million say they plan are cooperating with a government prosecutor and expect to enter pleas in an upcoming criminal case.
Douglas Dyer and James Brennan said they are working with prosecutor James Brooks.
The pair was hit earlier by an action by the Securities and Exchange Commission, but no criminal charges have yet been filed.
According to a document filed in the SEC case, the criminal charges are expected soon.
The SEC announced last July that it had won a court-ordered asset freeze to halt "an ongoing fraud by two former Chattanooga brokers with disciplinary histories who allegedly raised more than $5 million from investors without using the money as promised."
The SEC said Dyer and Brennan sold purported shares in eight similarly named companies to more than 240 investors nationwide since 2008 without ever registering the stock as they promised. Instead, according to the SEC’s complaint, Brennan and Dyer transferred investor funds into their personal accounts or those belonging to their wives.
Attorneys now say there were 258 investors.
The action says over a five-year period that Carole Johnston Brennan received $30,000 of the funds and Alison Ford Dyer received $286,000.
SEC attorney Robert Schroeder said following publicity about the case that his office "was inundated" with people with complaints about the pair. He said some went back to 2003.
He said some complainants alleged that the pair sought individuals to send $7,500 and a video and they "could help them become stars."
Attorney Frank Lightmas earlier acknowledged there are not enough assets to cover the millions investors are owed.
He said the SEC had been sent "tons" of financial data, but the SEC said it has not been told who sent what amount of money to Dyer and Brennan and where the money went.
Authorities said it appeared that money went into bank accounts, then was quickly dispersed out of the accounts.