Posted September 4, 2025 by Alan Rosca Esq.
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Attention Prestige Funds investors: contact investor lawyers for a free evaluation of your potential claims for compensation againts third parties today.
✓ Are you an investor in the ATM fund series known as Prestige Funds and/or WF Velocity Funds?
✓ Are you concerned about the Ponzi scheme allegations recently brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) against Daryl Heller, Prestige Investment Group, LLC and Paramount Management Group, LLC?
✓ Would you like your potential options for compensation to be reviewed by an experienced team of investor lawyers?
Request a free case evaluation of your potential claims for compensation against third parties today, via email at arosca@rscounsel.law, through the contact form on this page, or by calling 888-998-0530.
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The Prestige Funds Investor Center Page Is the Resource for Investors Who Invested in the Prestige and/or WF Velocity Funds Series and Would Like to Evaluate Compensation Claims Against Third Parties.
Posted September 4, 2025 by Alan Rosca Esq.
Following the recent Ponzi scheme allegations by the SEC against Daryl Heller and his companies Paramount Management Group, LLC and Prestige Investment Group, LLC, and the parallel criminal action charging Heller with securities fraud, the Rosca Scarlato LLC investor rights lawyers – led by Alan Rosca and Paul Scarlato, partners and investor advocates who often represent victims of Ponzi schemes, investment fraud and other investment-related misconduct – have launched an investigation on behalf of investors. They are currently evaluating potential claims for compensation against third parties for investors in the Prestige and WF Velocity Funds series, which according to the SEC include the following twenty-six investment funds:
Prestige Funds investors interested in an evaluation of potential options to seek compensation and/or pursue claims against third parties may contact investor rights attorneys Alan Rosca or Paul Scarlato. Claims that are not timely pursued may expire or otherwise be lost, generally speaking.
All consultations are free. The Rosca Scarlato attorneys typically take cases like this on a contingency fee basis, advance all case costs, and only get paid for their fees and expenses if and when they are successful.
To reach attorney Alan Rosca or his colleagues, investors may call 888-998-0530, email arosca@rscounsel.law (Alan Rosca), or leave a message through the contact form on this webpage.
Key Allegations
On September 3, 2025, the SEC filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Daryl F. Heller, Paramount Management Group, LLC, and Prestige Investment Group, LLC, alleging a massive Ponzi-like scheme that defrauded approximately 2,700 investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars through fraudulent ATM investment funds.
According to the SEC complaint under review by investor rights lawyers at Rosca Scarlato, Heller and his affiliated companies operated a scheme from at least January 2017 through June 2024 that raised more than $770 million while causing losses of approximately $400 million. The scheme falsely claimed to run a large, successful nationwide ATM network, managed and operated by Paramount Management Group, generating fixed monthly returns from ATM fees. Unbeknownst to investors, the ATM network was much smaller and less profitable than represented, and distributions to investors were mainly funded by new investments and short-term high-interest loans, the SEC alleged.
According to the SEC complaint, Daryl Heller and his affiliated companies engaged in numerous fraudulent practices, including:
In April 2024, as new investments dried up, Daryl Heller, through Paramount Management Group and Prestige Investment Group, allegedly stopped paying monthly distributions to investors. Shortly after, multiple lawsuits were filed against Heller and his companies, by various third parties, alleging Heller’s failure to make payment on loans secured by sales of future ATM receivables or for which the ATMs had been pledged as collateral, court documents reveal.
In February 2025, Daryl Heller filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New Jersey, listing $137 million in unsecured claims, according to the regulators. The bankruptcy proceedings are currently pending.
The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil penalties, and a conduct-based injunction and officer/director bar against Heller.
Potential Compensation Claims
In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced criminal charges against Daryl F. Heller. The indictment, initially filed on August 21, 2025 and unsealed on September 3, 2025, charges Daryl Heller with one count of securities fraud and four counts of wire fraud, “arising from a fraudulent investment scheme that resulted in significant investor losses of approximately $402 million.”
According to the United States Attorney David Metcalf “Daryl Heller allegedly piled lie upon lie, in order to bilk thousands of victims of their hard-earned money.” From at least January 2017 through June 2024, through materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises Heller solicited, and caused others to solicit, approximately $770 million from investors in the Prestige and WF Velocity Funds, the prosecutors allege.
Heller, a resident of Lititz, Pennsylvania, allegedly managed the operations of the Prestige and WF Velocity Funds through his Lancaster based companies Paramount Management Group, Heller Capital Group, and Prestige Investment Group.
According to prosecutors, investors in the Prestige and WF Velocity Funds were solicited through private placement memoranda, contracts, emails, podcasts, and presentations, with minimum investments ranging from $52,000 to $120,000. Heller and his associates allegedly claimed that investor money would be used to buy ATMs, which Paramount Management Group would operate nationwide, generating monthly fixed payments funded by transaction fees.
Depending on the structure of the specific fund structure, Prestige and WF Velocity Funds investors entered into one of two arrangements: Venture Agreements (under which the investor owned the title to the ATMs purchased from Paramount Management Group) or Limited Liability Company Operating Agreements (under which the fund owned the title to the ATMs and the investor owned a membership interest in the Prestige or WF Velocity Fund). Once the investor funds were deposited into bank accounts associated with their respective ATM funds, a Prestige Investment Group employee allegedly transferred the investment money to Paramount Management Group.
However, instead of using the investor funds to purchase and operate ATMs as represented to investors, Heller and his affiliated companies used the money to pay monthly payments owed to earlier investors in the Prestige and WF Velocity Funds, Heller’s personal expenses, and business debts incurred by Paramount and other companies under Heller’s ownership and control, according to the indictment. Furthermore, echoing SEC allegations, Heller is accused of creating false reports regarding the number of ATMs and their performance, as well as fabricating bills of sale provided to investors.
If convicted, Daryl Heller faces a maximum possible sentence of 100 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The indictment also includes forfeiture allegations for proceeds traceable to the alleged offenses, “including but not limited to the sum of $770,106,400.”
Potential Compensation Claims
“Some investors in the Prestige Funds and/or WF Velocity Funds may be able to seek compensation for their losses from banking and/or financial industry entities that may have facilitated or failed to prevent the alleged Ponzi scheme,” said attorney Alan Rosca, a Rosca Scarlato partner and veteran investor advocate.
Investor rights attorneys Alan Rosca and Paul Scarlato have reviewed a significant volume of records related to this matter and are preparing claims for compensation on behalf of investors in the Prestige Funds and WF Velocity Funds investment offerings. They have decades of combined experience seeking compensation related to investor harm and pursuing claims arising out of alleged violations of securities law, investment fraud, and/or Ponzi schemes.
Investors interested to learn more about their options or assist the Rosca Scarlato attorneys’ investigation, as well as any individuals with knowledge of the facts surrounding the Prestige Funds alleged Ponzi scheme, may contact attorneys Alan Rosca or Paul Scarlato to learn more about their rights and for an evaluation of potential claims, or to provide useful information. All consultations are free.
The Rosca Scarlato attorneys typically take cases like this on a contingency fee basis, advance all case costs, and only get paid for their fees and expenses if and when they are successful.
To reach attorney Alan Rosca or his colleagues, Prestige Funds investors may call 888-998-0530, email arosca@rscounsel.law (Alan Rosca), or leave a message through the contact form on this webpage.
The general considerations on this page are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Such legal advice can only be offered once the attorneys discuss each investor’s situation, learn of the relevant facts, and can tailor any advice to that investor’s facts. This page is not affiliated with Daryl F. Heller, Paramount Management Group, LLC, Heller Capital Group, LLC, Prestige and WF Velocity Funds Management, LLC, Prestige and WF Velocity Funds Management II, LLC, Prestige and WF Velocity Funds Management III, LLC, WF Velocity Funds Management, LLC, Prestige Fund A, LLC, Prestige Fund A II, LLC, Prestige Fund A IV, LLC, Prestige Fund A IX, LLC, Prestige Fund A V, LLC, Prestige Fund A VI, LLC, Prestige Fund A VII, LLC, Prestige Fund B, LLC, Prestige Fund B II, LLC, Prestige Fund B IV, LLC, Prestige Fund B V, LLC, Prestige Fund B VI, LLC, Prestige Fund B VII, LLC, Prestige Fund B BTM I, LLC, Prestige Fund D, LLC, Prestige Fund D III, LLC, Prestige Fund D IV, LLC , Prestige Fund D V, LLC, Prestige Fund D VI, LLC , Prestige Fund D BTM I, LLC, Prestige Fund E I, LLC, WF Velocity Fund IV, LLC, WF Velocity Fund V, LLC, WF Velocity Fund VI, LLC, WF Velocity Fund VII, LLC, WF Velocity I, LLC, or any other related person or entity. There has not been an adjudication on the merits of any allegations referenced on this page, as of the date of the posting.
Investors should review the underlying case records and consult the case dockets for the most recent developments in this matter.
Daryl Heller’s defense attorney says April trial date not possible given volume of evidence, published by Lancaster Online on October 3, 2025
Federal judge sets Daryl Heller’s trial date in fraud case, published by Lancaster Online on October 1, 2025
Nonexistent or Broken ATMs at Heart of $770 Million Ponzi Scheme, Authorities Say, published by Barron’s on September 5, 2025
SEC Charges Pennsylvania Resident and His Companies with $770 Million Ponzi Scheme, published by the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 3, 2025
Lancaster County Man Indicted in Connection With Massive Investment Fraud Scheme, published by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania on September 3, 2025
US charges Pennsylvania man in $400 million ATM fraud, published by Reuters on September 3, 2025
Lancaster County businessman charged in $770 million investment fraud scheme, published by Fox29 Philadelphia on September 3, 2025
ATM businessman Daryl Heller hit with federal Securities and Exchange Commission claim, published by LNP Lancaster Online on August 12, 2025
Daryl Heller Indictment dated August 21, 2025 (opens in pdf)
Daryl Heller SEC Complaint dated September 3, 2025 (opens in pdf)
Daryl Heller Arrest Warrant dated September 3, 2025 (opens in pdf)
Daryl Heller Bankruptcy – Chapter 11 Plan dated August 1, 2025 (opens in pdf)
Daryl Heller Bankruptcy – US Trustee Response to Court’s Order to Show Cause Why the Court Should Not Appoint a Trustee or Convert Case dated October 10, 2025 (opens in pdf)
Daryl Heller Bankruptcy – Order Directing the Appointment of a Chapter 11 Trustee dated October 22, 2025 (opens in pdf)
In our legal system, every person is innocent until and unless found guilty by a court of law or a tribunal. Whenever we reference “allegations” or charges that are “alleged,” such allegations or charges have not been proven, and are merely accusations, not findings of fault, as of the date of the blog. We do not have, nor do we undertake, a duty to continue to monitor or follow matters about which we report, and/or to publish subsequent updates regarding various developments that may occur in such matters. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research regarding any such matters and any developments that may or may not have occurred in such matters. Also, the Brokercheck report linked to some of our blogs is the up-to-date version as of the date of accessing by the reader. The information in our blogs is current as of the date of the drafting of the blog, and given that sometimes certain past complaints may no longer be listed in newer Brokercheck reports, some of the events referenced in some of our blogs may later on be removed from newer Brokercheck reports. Visitors may check the most recent version of each brokercheck report at www.finra.org, and may contact FINRA for the earlier version of the Brokercheck report upon which various blogs may be based.