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A financial adviser in Georgia pleaded guilty Wednesday to wire fraud in a Ponzi scheme that bilked more than 2,000 people—including numerous Indiana investors—out of $380 million, federal authorities announced.
Prosecutors accused Todd Burkhalter, the founder and CEO of Drive Planning LLC, of marketing several fraudulent investment schemes and using the money in part to buy a $2 million yacht, a $2.1 million condo in Mexico and a motorcoach.
Burkhalter, 54, of St. Petersburg, Florida, encouraged investors to dip into retirement accounts and savings and take out lines of credit between September 2020 and May 2024. Drive Planning’s former chief operating officer, David Bradford, has also pleaded guilty.
Drive Planning operated offices in St. Petersburg, Atlanta and in Fishers. The Fishers office, 8100 E. 106th St., was overseen by former managing partner Gerardo Linarducci, who is facing civil fraud charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Investigators say Drive Planning’s scheme involved numerous Indiana investors who lost millions of dollars.
Burkhalter was represented by the federal defenders’ office. A message to the office after hours on Wednesday was not immediately returned.
Prosecutors said one of Burkhalter’s investment schemes purported to provide short-term loans to real estate developers and promised returns of 10% every three months. According to prosecutors, Burkhalter falsely said those investments were backed by real estate holdings.
“These losses will echo through the lives of these victims long after these defendants receive their well-deserved sentences,” said Aaron Seres, a supervisory special agent at the Atlanta-area FBI office.
As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors plan to recommend a sentence of more than 17 years in prison for Burkhalter, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Theodore Hertzberg said.
Hertzberg and Seres spokes at a news conference announcing Burkhalter’s plea.
Hertzberg said a court-appointed official is trying to recover victims’ money by selling Burkhalter’s assets, but it’s highly unlikely that they will get back everything they lost.
In a civil suit announced by the SEC in December, Linarducci, 61, was accused of three counts of fraud; one count of aiding and abetting fraud; one count of offering and selling unregistered securities; and one count of operating as an unregistered broker.
According to the lawsuit, Linarducci worked for Drive Planning from July 2022 to August 2024. During that time, the lawsuit alleges, Linarducci raised more than $13 million from investors, and his sales team raised another $30 million-plus. In compensation for this work, Linarducci received $7.5 million from Drive Planning.
The lawsuit alleges that Linarducci raised money from investors even after he had privately expressed doubts about Drive Planning’s operations.
Linarducci has been sued by two Drive Planning investors, and Drive Planning’s receiver is seeking to take control of the Geist home that Linarducci and his wife purchased in 2023 for $1.95 million—money that the receiver says came directly from Drive Planning. Linarducci also filed for bankruptcy early last year.
Bradford has been charged criminally—on Nov. 12, he was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud. Court records show that Bradford has pleaded guilty to that charge. His sentencing is scheduled for March 17 in Atlanta.
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