SANTA ANA, California – In a shocking turn of events, Todd Douglas Mulliner, a 61-year-old Irvine man, has been arrested on a nine-count federal grand jury indictment for running a Ponzi scheme that conned victims – family and friends included – by persuading them to invest in his stock options trading fund. Mulliner, the president and CEO of DauVC1, an Irvine-based company, allegedly used most of the money to pay for personal items, including trying to buy coastal real estate.
According to the indictment, Mulliner falsely represented himself to be an expert investor with a successful system for trading stock options. He obtained money from investors by soliciting from individuals, usually family, friends, and acquaintances, to buy his company’s shares. At Mulliner’s direction, victim-investors sometimes transferred funds from their retirement accounts. Mulliner told his victims that DauVC1 was a venture capital company engaged in stock options trading, that they were buying an interest in the company, and they would share in the company’s trading profits.
Mulliner provided investors with a share purchase agreement, which outlined the terms of the investment by falsely stating that the victims’ funds would be used only for stock options trading. He further claimed he would receive a 20% commission on trading profits that DauVC1 generated. To induce additional victims to invest in DauVC1, Mulliner told a series of lies directly and through intermediaries via email, telephone, and in-person conversations.
However, in reality, Mulliner’s system for trading stock options resulted in him losing the majority of investors’ principal that he actually traded. He used most of investors’ funds to pay earlier investors monthly payments based on DauVC1’s purported profits and to repay earlier investors who wanted to withdraw their money from the company. Mulliner also used investor funds to pay family members and the attempted purchase of a beachfront home in Sunset Beach.
Law enforcement believes Mulliner caused at least six victims to pay his company approximately $290,000. In April 2021, Mulliner stole an $8,400 COVID-19 pandemic U.S. Treasury Economic Impact Payment check from the mail and forged the signatures of two victims on the back of the check, endorsing the check to himself as the president of DauVC.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court. If convicted, Mulliner would face a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison on the bank fraud charge.
Mulliner is charged with four counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, one count of engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived proceeds, one count of bank fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft. He is expected to make his initial appearance and be arraigned this afternoon in United States District Court in Santa Ana.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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