WI-07: Wisconsin GOP congressional candidate named in $44M settlement of alleged 'Ponzi scheme' lawsuit
Republican Paul Wassgren of Ashland is touting his experience as a financial services broker and corporate attorney as he runs against three other GOP candidates in a primary for Northern Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District. But two years ago, he was involved in a $44 million settlement that ended a class action lawsuit in which investors alleged the Florida-based company Wassgren represented orchestrated a “Ponzi scheme” that raised more than $170 million.
A statement from Wassgren’s campaign blamed “financial ambulance-chaser lawyers” for the suit and settlement, although the initial case was spurred by an earlier U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, investigation.
In 2020, the SEC launched an emergency enforcement action against the Florida-based private real estate firm EquiAlt LLC, along with executives Brian Davison and Barry Rybicki. Wassgren was the company’s attorney.
The SEC complaint alleged EquiAlt raised the $170 million from more than 1,100 investors across the U.S. “through fraudulent unregistered securities offerings.”
https://www.wpr.org/news/republican-congressional-paul-wassgren-44m-settlement-ponzi-scheme-lawsuit