Minnesota horse owners charged with operating Ponzi scheme

A Minnesota couple used misappropriated funds from investors to support their horse racing stable and other businesses, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged on Tuesday in an announcement of an order to freeze the assets of the couple.

Jason Dodd Bullard, 57, and Angela Romero-Bullard, 49, both residents of Shakopee, Minn., operated an “alleged Ponzi scheme” by raising $17.6 million from investors over a 14-year-period and using the proceeds beginning in 2015 to provide returns to existing investors. The couple also used money to support the horse racing operation, called Empire Racing Stable; a limousine service; and a health and fitness studio, the SEC said.

According to Equibase, Empire Racing Stables has had 720 starts since 2015, when it was formed, winning 146 races for $2.4 million in purses. This year, the stable has started 182 horses, with 34 wins and $600,000 in earnings, with the vast majority of those starts coming at Canterbury Park in Shakopee.

The SEC complaint says that Empire claims to own 24 horses, and that it “offers members of the public the opportunity to participate in five different ‘investing levels.’ ”

According to the SEC, the couple started an investment fund, Bullard Enterprises, in 2007, raising most of the money from “friends and family.” The couple told investors that the fund would be used to trade foreign currencies, but, beginning in 2015, the fund stopped trading.

“Instead of delivering on their promises, these individuals used false statements and fraudulent documents to convince investors to pour millions of dollars into bank accounts used almost exclusively for Ponzi-style payments and for their personal benefit,” the SEC said.

A Ponzi scheme entails using new investor money to pay off existing investors to maintain the illusion that an investment is generating promised returns.

“In truth, investor funds were not invested or suffered investment losses,” the complaint against the couple claims.

The SEC complaint against the couple seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions, plus “disgorgement, prejudgment interest, civil penalties, and an asset freeze.”