Integrity Aviation & Leasing Charged With Defrauding First Responders

Integrity Aviation & Leasing (IAL) has been charged in a $14 million fraudulent scheme that allegedly victimized many San Antonio police officers and other first responders. Morgan & Morgan’s securities attorneys are investigating the alleged fraudulent scheme.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against IAL and its owner, Victor Lee Farias, for allegedly defrauding investors.

The SEC alleges that Farias and IAL raised $14 million from investors, and said would use these funds to purchase engines and aircraft parts for leasing to major airlines. However, according to the SEC, IAL never purchased any engines and used only a small amount of investor funds to purchase of aircraft parts.

Rather, according to the SEC, Farias and IAL used more than $11 million of investor funds for improper purposes, including making $6.5 million in Ponzi-like payments to investors and investing $2.7 million in a friend’s business. Farias also purportedly misappropriated $2.4 million for personal expenses.

The SEC further alleges that Farias and IAL falsely represented Farias’s purported investment experience and IAL’s supposed competitive advantages, such as an algorithm that would identify profitable leasing opportunities.

According to the SEC, many of the victims were San Antonio police officers and other first responders who used funds from their retirement accounts to invest with IAL.

The SEC alleges that many investors moved funds from traditional retirement accounts to self-directed IRAs to make their investments.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy previously issued an investor alert on the risks associated with use of self-directed IRAs.

The SEC’s complaint charges Farias and IAL with violating antifraud and federal securities laws. The complaint seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement, and civil penalties.

If you have suffered losses relating to Farias’s or IAL’s alleged fraud, contact us at 888-744-0142 to speak with an experienced securities attorney.

The Business Trial Group at Morgan & Morgan helps investors recover their losses on a contingency basis. We are only paid if we successfully recover money for you. We have helped investors recover tens of millions of dollars of investment losses.