The Schwartz Law Firm Investigates Michael and Donna Seymour of Ingram Advisory Services, LLC

The Schwartz Law Firm Investigates Michael and Donna Seymour of Ingram Advisory Services, LLC

The Schwartz Law Firm is currently investigating claims against Michael Seymour (CRD# 1597042) and Donna Seymour (CRD#1714302) who are affiliated with Ingram Advisory Services, LLC and Centaurus Financial, Inc. related to recommendations and sales of GWG L Bonds and other alternative investments to current and former clients. Both Michael and Donna Seymour, located in Winter Haven, Florida, have multiple customer disputes on their public disclosures.  

What Are GWG L Bonds?

  GWG Holdings Inc. is an alternative asset manager that issued a series of high-yield bonds known as GWG L Bonds. These L Bonds were backed by life settlements. The company pooled money from L Bonds investors, like Tucker, to purchase life insurance policies on the secondary market. The company then used death benefits from the policies when people died to repay investors.   L Bonds were illiquid private placements that were very high-risk and speculative. As of September 30, 2021 (the most recent data GWG made available) GWG had $1.3 billion in L Bonds outstanding. The 2020 Prospectus expressly incorporated by reference certain documents, including GWG’s Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2019 and GWG’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ending March 31, 2020. The 2020 Prospectus disclosed several risks associated with L Bonds, and included inflated revenues and assets of GWG. Moreover, the Prospectus stated that investing in L Bonds involves a “high degree of risk, including the risk of losing [one’s] entire investment[,]” and “[i]nvesting in L Bonds may be considered speculative.” This was never disclosed to Claimant.   GWG had a history of net losses and did not generate sufficient operating and investing cash flows to fund its operations. For the year ended December 31, 2019, GWG posted a net loss from operations of $79.6 million and negative operating cash flow of $142.8 million. GWG depended on financing – primarily debt financing, such as L Bonds – to fund its operations.   GWG’s largest asset as of December 31, 2019, was Beneficient Company Group, L.P.’s (“Beneficient”) goodwill ($2.4 billion), which constituted 65% of GWG’s consolidated assets at that time. Goodwill is an intangible asset that arises when a buyer acquires an existing business, representing the excess consideration paid by the buyer for the business over the acquired business’ identifiable net assets. Beneficient recorded this goodwill when GWG obtained control of it on December 31, 2019. Eliminating goodwill, which is an intangible asset that cannot be used to pay down debt, GWG’s liabilities were well in excess of its assets.   GWG’s largest tangible asset was its portfolio of life insurance policies, which had a face value of approximately $2 billion and fair value of $796 million as of December 31, 2019. L Bonds, however, were not directly secured by GWG’s life insurance portfolio. Instead, L Bonds were primarily secured by GWG’s equity ownership interests in certain GWG subsidiaries. The claims of L Bond holders to assets, such as GWG’s portfolio of life insurance policies, are subordinate to the interests of creditors of those entities. L Bond holders’ claims to GWG’s life insurance assets are subordinate to a senior credit facility, which holds a direct security interest in GWG’s life insurance portfolio. The fair value of GWG’s life insurance portfolio, less the amounts owed on the senior credit facility, were insufficient to repay GWG’s outstanding L Bond debt.   In April of 2021, GWG temporarily ceased its sale of L Bonds because it was unable to file its 2020 Form 10-K. GWG subsequently filed its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 on November 5, 2021 and resumed selling L Bonds.   On January 15, 2022, GWG filed a Form 8-K disclosing that following its resumption of L Bond sales, GWG had “experienced significantly lower L Bond sales than it had experienced previously” and that it “did not make the January 15, 2022 interest payment of approximately $10.35 million and principal payments of approximately $3.25 million with respect to its L Bonds….” In that same filing, GWG stated it had suspended further sales of L Bonds as of January 10, 2022. On April 20, 2022, GWG filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In re: GWG Holdings, Inc., et al., Case No. 22-90032 (Bankr. S.D. Tex.).  

Investigation of Michael Seymour and Donna Seymour

  If you have suffered losses as a result of Michael Seymour or Donna Seymour, we would like to hear from you. We are currently investigating claims on behalf of clients who have suffered significant losses in their investment portfolios due to investments in GWG L Bonds, and other alternative investments. The Schwartz Law Firm represents investors in claims against financial advisors and their firms. If you have questions about your potential claim or need assistance from an investment fraud lawyer, please contact us at 866-618-0545 or email Matthew Schwartz directly at mschwartz@tslfirm.com.