Yacht company partner indicted for fractional ownership scam
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal grand jury has indicted a Hendersonville, Tenn., businessman with one count of wire fraud stemming from an alleged investment scam in a fractional-yacht-ownership company, according to a report in the Nashville Business Journal.
Alton S. Minton, a former executive with YachtOne Holdings, LLC, could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Minton worked as a marketer for YachtOne Holdings, but the company was not successful and failed to sell any legitimate fractional-ownership shares, the Journal reported. Despite the failure of that company, Minton was also soliciting investors to invest in a similarly named but “fraudulent” company, YachtOne, Inc.
“Minton allegedly told some investors that their investment was a loan that was guaranteed to be repaid in currency or stock at a later date,” according to the paper. “He also told investors that YachtOne, Inc. was going to be acquired by one or more successor companies, and that investors would still be repaid.”
However, the Department of Justice says no legitimate, legally formed entity named “YachtOne, Inc.” ever existed, and neither of Minton’s business partners in the legitimate YachtOne Holdings, LLC was aware of the so-called ‘YachtOne, Inc.’ or its separate bank accounts.
To read the complete report, click here.
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