The Woodbridge Group of Companies, LLC, operated by Robert H. Shapiro, presented itself as a developer of luxury real estate and a lender offering investors the opportunity to purchase high-yield securities known as First Position Commercial Mortgages (FPCMs). The company promised investors annual returns of 5-10% from the interest paid by third-party commercial property owners. However, an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that the vast majority of the borrowers were shell companies owned and controlled by Shapiro, which had no revenue and never made any interest payments. The operation was a classic Ponzi scheme, using new investor money to pay returns to earlier investors. In December 2017, the SEC charged the company and its owner with fraud, leading to its collapse, bankruptcy, and the eventual creation of a liquidation trust to recover and distribute assets to thousands of defrauded investors.

Founded in

United States