A Villager named in a Securities and Exchange Commission emergency action is reportedly reaching out to investors again.
John Gissas of Retirement Evolution Group LLC of Wildwood is accused of raising money for Par Funding, whose owners made “opportunistic loans” to small business owners across America – some at interest rates as high as 400 percent, according to the SEC filing. Gissas has raised more than $5.4 million from at least 62 investors for Par Funding through the offer and sale of promissory notes. Gissas, who lives in the Village of Gilchrist, is among numerous defendants named in the SEC filing.
Gissas, whose office is located at Freedom Plaza on State Road 44 near Brownwood, was named in July in the SEC complaint. The SEC locked him out of the office and froze his assets.
It appears Gissas is eager to get back in business.
Gissas’ attorney was successful in having the court lift the asset freeze on Retirement Evolution Group’s non-Par Funding assets and release the lockdown on his office, so that he can continue to operate the non-involved investments.
In return, he agreed to wire transfer $1.2 million of Par Funding money from his Wells Fargo business account to the checking account of the SEC receiver.
Gissas found his flock of investors in The Villages by publishing newspaper ads promising lunch and dinner, as well as outlandish investment returns.
Gissas is reportedly back in touch with his clients and putting his own spin on the SEC’s actions.
Villager Rick Woolf is a former U.S. assistant attorney with the Department of Justice who has been following the Gissas case and has spoken with Villagers who invested with Gissas.
“I am angered by the alleged deplorable actions of Villager John Gissas of Retirement Evolution Group of Wildwood in scamming fellow Villagers out of their hard-earned retirement funds. The funds he is accused of raising for Par Funding through free lunch and dinner seminars are an unconscionable scheme to take advantage of the vulnerability of our elderly seniors. I am aware of the financial and emotional grief they are suffering,” Woolf said.
He has been acting as a liaison to put those fellow Villagers in touch with competent professionals who can help them recover their funds.
Woolf can be reached at rwoolf@woolffinancial.com or (954) 816-8699.
