POMPANO BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) – A South Florida woman faces a federal fraud investigation after she scammed thousands of people through a massive, multimillion-dollar Ponzi operation, authorities and investors said.
A civil complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier in August accused Johanna Garcia, the manager and president of MJ Capital Funding, of violating the antifraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws.
Speaking with 7News on Friday, real estate agent Alfredo Iglesias shared his experience with the business.
“I’m a single father with an 18-year-old son,” he said.
Iglesias said that when he heard about friends investing in MJ Capital, he thought it sounded like a good deal.
Steven Shulman, who runs his own pet rescue charity, said on Thursday that he was also a victim.
“It’s a terrible loss, and I was using and raising the money and the profits to save the lives of animals,” he said.
Iglesians and Shulman said they thought they had found the perfect investment vehicle in MJ Capital Funding, which is run out of a Pompano Beach storefront.
When asked how much money he invested, Iglesias replied, “Twenty-five thousand [dollars]. I trusted the person, I trusted the system.”
The idea behind investing in the company was to put up money to be used by small businesses for loans, called merchant cash advances, or MCAs, and make a profit on the interest.
“Seemed legit, and it just seemed quite…
