SECRETARY OF STATE ORDERS COMPANIES TO STOP SELLING IN INVESTMENT SCHEME

Missouri Secretary of State Bekki Cook has issued a cease and desist order against three Ohio companies and four of their representatives for violating Missouri securities laws.

One of those representatives is Robert J. Brothers of 2508 Wedgewood Drive in Jackson. The others are from Ohio and St. Louis, Cook said.

The companies, sales representatives and the investments being offered for sale weren't registered with the securities division of the secretary of state's office as required by Missouri law, Cook said.

Cook said her office acted after a lengthy investigation that resulted from complaints made by Missourians.

Cook said the investigation found that investors had been deceived. "They have not been told the truth and it is time to halt these companies before more people are taken advantage of," she said.

"We have investors in this company from all parts of the state and believe Missourians have lost more than $240,000," she said.

"Nationwide, millions of dollars have been lost. A few people are getting rich and everyone else is losing money," Cook said.

In one case, Brothers contacted a Missouri resident early last year and recommended an investment of $1,200 with The Infinity Group Co. of Fairport Harbor, Ohio.

The cease and desist order identified Brothers as a representative of The Infinity Group.

The order said Brothers told the potential investor that he was "making a lot of money" through an investment in The Infinity Group.

Brothers supplied materials to the potential investor that advertised a 138 percent return on investment after a year. The information also stated that the investment was "totally risk free" and "has a 100 percent success rate."

In response to inquiries from the securities division, Brothers denied that he had been selling securities, Cook said.

Brothers failed to provide business records that had been requested by the division, Cook said.

Statewide, at least 50 Missourians lost money in the scheme, which offered guaranteed returns of 138 to 181 percent annually with no risk, she said.

Cook's director of communications, Jim Grebing, said that at least 10 Cape Girardeau County residents had invested money in the scheme. Investments also were made by four people from Perry and Bollinger counties, Grebing said.

He said Brothers was employed with the Procter & Gamble plant in Cape Girardeau County.

"I just think it was something he was offering to people at work," Grebing said.

"We just basically told him to stop selling," said Grebing.

"It is our understanding he is going to quit selling this," Grebing said.

The lure of quick money is what attracts people to such schemes, he said.

Last month, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued an injunction against The Infinity Group Co. and others involved in the investment scheme. Brothers wasn't named in the federal order.

The case was brought by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission. The federal court found that the company had raised more than $2.6 million from more than 10,000 investors nationwide.

The secretary of state said the investigation is continuing. She said anyone who has been contacted by the companies or represented named in the order should call the secretary of state's investor hotline at (800) 721-7996.