Leader of Atlanta-based Investment Scam Sentenced

Carlin King, 43, of Decatur, has been sentenced by United States District Judge Marvin Shoob to serve three years in federal prison on a charge of wire fraud, in connection with his operation of the foreign exchange investment house “Hanover Stevens,” based in Atlanta.

King was sentenced to three years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2.5 million. King pleaded guilty to the charge on Feb. 23, 2009.

According to the information presented in court: King was a professional securities broker, who traded equity stocks and commodities for clients at various financial firms, mostly in Atlanta, since the 1990s.

In approximately 2002, King founded and began operating “Hanover Stevens,” a retail foreign exchange brokerage firm. Beginning in approximately February 2006, however, King stopped actually investing client money in foreign exchange transactions. The evidence shows he began lying to clients about the returns their investments were supposedly making, and he began operating a fraudulent “Ponzi” scheme. Instead of investing client money in the foreign currency markets as he promised, King began using those funds to pay Hanover Stevens’s increasing operating expenses, investors who had requested distributions, and substantial personal expenses (including living expenses at luxury hotels).

To create the impression that their investments were profitable, King provided account statements to his investors containing fabricated numbers as to the balances in their accounts and supposed investment gains. Because there were no actual investment gains—and because the balances being reported to investors were fabricated—the only way that King could pay any requested distributions was to use newly-invested funds from new investors.

By December 2007—when the unsustainable scheme collapsed—the losses to the investors exceeded $2.5 million.

Teacher arrested; Allegedly dropped his pants with teen in vehicle

Police say a Stone Mountain Middle School math teacher has some explaining to do.

Authorities arrested a 29-year-old man who allegedly had his pants down in his vehicle in the parking lot of an area restaurant, which also included a 15-year-old girl.

According to police, a Jonesboro officer pulled up behind a pickup truck around 2 a.m. Thursday outside El Tarasco Restaurant in Clayton County.

Officers reported they witnessed Charles Thomas McClendon, 29, of Decatur, exiting the back seat and pulling up his pants. Police also report that McClendon dropped an unwrapped condom on the floor.

Police reported the presence of a teen girl in the back seat, who later told authorities she was a student of McClendon, who was charged with child molestation and enticing a child.

Decatur's 'Dracula' Sentenced to More Than 20 Years in Prison

Nathaniel Little Jr., 43, of Decatur, has been sentenced by United States District Judge Charles Pannell, Jr., to serve more than 20 years in prison on charges of armed bank robbery and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.

United States Attorney David Nahmias noted, “Today’s sentence drives a stake into the heart of a simple yet dangerous crime: robbing banks. This “Dracula” bandit will now spend many nights in the dark and confined cavern of a prison cell. In this scary economy, robbing banks may seem like a quick way for criminals to get money, but the real horror begins once they caught.”

Little was sentenced to 20 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $14,669. Little pleaded guilty to the charges on Nov. 12, 2008.

According to Nahmias and the information presented in court, on the morning of Aug. 23, 2006, Little, wearing a Dracula mask, walked into the CDC Federal Credit Union on Brandywine Road in Atlanta with a semi-automatic gun in his hand. He placed a bag on the counter and, while pointing the gun, yelled at the tellers to fill it up. After getting the money, the defendant fled the bank.

A little over a month later, on Sept. 29, 2006, Little robbed the same CDC Federal Credit Union in the same way: he walked in wearing a Dracula mask and carrying a semi-automatic handgun, he placed a bag on the counter and, while pointing the gun at the tellers, he ordered them to fill up his bag. At one point during this robbery, Little shouted at a teller, “Don’t make me have to shoot you.” After getting the money, he fled the bank.

The FBI later tracked a car that had been parked near the robbery and, after a lengthy investigation, located key witnesses, which helped investigators identify Little, who had been arrested on unrelated state charges after the robberies.