Richard David Hall
MONTGOMERY– Robert L. Broussard, District Attorney for the 23rd Judicial Circuit,
Madison County, Alabama; and Joseph Borg, Director of the Alabama Securities Commission (ASC) announced
that on March 12, 2015, Richard David Hall of Huntsville, Alabama, pled guilty in Madison County Circuit Court
to one count Conspiracy to Commit Securities Fraud by Employing a Device, Scheme, or Artifice to Defraud. At
the time the offense was committed it was a Class C felony punishable by not more than 10 years, nor less than
1 year and 1 day in prison and not more than a $15,000 fine per charge. Based upon Hall’s plea of guilt, the
State of Alabama recommended a 10-year sentence and that Hall be jointly liable for restitution in the amount
of $3,265,000. Hall remains free on a $60,000 bond, pending a formal sentencing hearing scheduled on April 23,
2015.
Hall’s plea is a result of a June, 2014 Madison County Grand Jury indictment. Hall fraudulently solicited investor
funds to be used in a managed gold “buy-sell” program. The pitch was that the investors’ funds would
purportedly purchase gold in Ghana, Africa, to be traded internationally, thus making a profit for the
investors. Initially, Hall and his co-conspirators used a company named “First Fin” to obtain investors’
funds. The supposed trading of gold never occurred and investors’ funds were actually wired through an
attorney trust account. The attorney managing the trust account then immediately wired the funds to Hall who
sent the money to his co-conspirators and kept a portion for himself. Later, Hall created a company named
“Berea” and used the same documentation of First Fin, merely changing the name to Berea, Inc. Hall and his
co-conspirators fraudulently used the same sales pitch with Berea as with First Fin. Hall and his co-conspirators
also fraudulently schemed to promote the use of non-existent or fake bank instruments to provide accounts on
which money could be borrowed to purchase gold in their related trading program. All of Hall’s and his coconspirators’
investment programs resulted in significant losses of investors’ funds. ASC records indicated that
neither Hall nor his co-conspirators were registered with the ASC to legally conduct securities business in
Alabama, as required by the Alabama Securities Act.
MEDIA RELEASE/Alabama Securities Commission
