Richard Olive, Defrauding Clients, Tennessee 2013
A federal jury has convicted Richard Olive, 47, of Vero Beach, Florida, formerly a resident of Franklin, Tennessee, of mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, related to his operation of National Foundation of America (“NFOA”).
Olive was convicted on March 7, 2013, of defrauding clients of $30 million in assets.
From January 2006 through May 2007, Olive represented to potential investors that NFOA, which was headquartered in Franklin, Tenn., was a charitable organization that had been recognized and approved by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) organization.
During the scheme, Olive solicited assets from elderly individuals, including annuities and real estate, valued at more than $30 million, and promised that, in return, NFOA would issue an “installment bargain contract” that would purportedly give investors a guaranteed payout within a specific time period as well as a generous tax deduction.
“Fraudulent investment scams like these are devastating to investors, especially people who invest their life’s savings with individuals they trust, only to find that their trust has been misplaced,” said U. S. Attorney Jerry E. Martin.
Olive used the cash to fund his lavish lifestyle, including paying $153,000 of expenses on credit cards, funding a family trip to New Orleans on a chartered jet, settling a lawsuit against him for $250,000, and using cash to purchase several properties, including a $690,000 condo in Las Vegas.
The jury also heard testimony that at least five states had issued cease-and-desist orders during the scheme, based in part on their findings that Olive was misrepresenting NFOA’s 501(c)(3) status, and ordered him to stop selling NFOA’s product in those states.
Key Facts
- State: Tennessee
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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