An Alpharetta man was accused by federal regulators with running a multimillion-dollar fraud ring that victimized members of the local Turkish community.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Omer Casurluk, also known as Timur Efe, with defrauding investors out of $9 million through a phony scheme to invest in fast-food restaurants. Many victims were recent immigrants from Turkey who spoke little English, the SEC alleged.
Casurluk emigrated to the U.S. in 2009 and previously served as executive director of the Turkish American Chamber of Commerce.
Casurluk told the victims that he would make an equal sized investment to their contributions into his company, Star Chain Inc., the SEC said. However, Casurluk allegedly only used the investors’ money, and none of his own, to purchase franchises of Checkers Drive-In, Captain D’s and other restaurant chains.
In addition, Casurluk registered ownership of the restaurants in only his name, and used the victims’ funds for his personal use, according to the complaint.
Casurluk mismanaged the businesses and lost money, the SEC said. He filed for bankruptcy in October 2019 and later dissolved his companies, resulting in losses of about $14.6 million for his creditors, according to court records.
Cases of affinity fraud, such as the Casurluk incident, involve predators who take advantage of groups with shared identifies such as religious or ethnic heritage, according to the SEC.
Calls to Casurluk at a number listed for Star Chain were not immediately returned Monday. His attorney, Amanda Clark Palmer, did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
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