California Executive Sentenced to 15 Months for Obstruction of Justice

Jaymes Meyer, the CEO of Preferred Merchants LLC, a financial services company based in Napa, California, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for his role in an elaborate obstruction of justice scheme. According to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, Meyer engaged in the scheme to conceal millions of dollars in assets that were subject to a freeze order and seizure warrant.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose of the Western District of North Carolina, Special Agent in Charge Michael Rolin of the U.S. Secret Service’s Charlotte, North Carolina, Field Division, and Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Holloman III of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Charlotte Field Office made the announcement.

On March 23, Meyer pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice. In addition to imposing the prison term, U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. of the Western District of North Carolina entered a monetary judgment of $4.8 million against Meyer.

According to the plea agreement, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) Division of Enforcement commenced a securities fraud investigation concerning a Ponzi scheme centering on Rex Ventures Group LLC (RVG), a North Carolina-based company for which Preferred Merchants held millions in assets in treasury and trust accounts. As a result of its investigation, the SEC filed a civil enforcement action against RVG, resulting in an order freezing all of RVG’s assets and appointing a receiver to marshal, manage and distribute remaining RVG assets to impacted investors.

Meyer admitted that he misled the SEC by falsely implying that Preferred Merchants did not exercise dominion or control over any RVG assets when, in fact, Meyer controlled approximately $17.4 million in RVG assets. Meyer further admitted that he wired approximately $4.8 million from an RVG trust account to a brokerage account under his control after learning about the SEC’s investigation and used that money to purchase homes in Napa and the Turks and Caicos, and took additional measures to conceal his RVG assets.

The U.S. Secret Service and IRS-CI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Grus Sugar of the Western District of North Carolina and Trial Attorneys Kevin Lowell and Brian D. Frey of the Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section – Bank Integrity Unit prosecuted the case.

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