Lancaster County Man Pleads Guilty in Connection With Massive Investment Fraud Scheme

PHILADELPHIA - United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Daryl F. Heller, 56, of Lititz, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty today before United States District Judge Catherine Henry to securities fraud.

The defendant was charged by indictment in August of last year, arising from a fraudulent investment scheme that resulted in investor losses of approximately $402 million in unpaid principal.

As detailed in court filings, Heller controlled and was the majority owner of several companies based in Lancaster, Pa., including Paramount Management Group, LLC ("Paramount"), which purchased, installed, operated, maintained, and processed transactions for automatic teller machines ("ATMs") and cryptocurrency teller machines ("BTMs") in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and throughout the country.

Heller also controlled and was the majority owner of Heller Capital Group LLC ("HCG") and Prestige Investment Group, LLC ("Prestige"). Further, Prestige was the majority owner of four companies, collectively, the "Prestige Management Companies." The Prestige Management Companies, in turn, managed the operations of more than two dozen companies, collectively, the "Prestige and WF Velocity ATM Funds."

As further detailed in court filings and admitted to by the defendant, from about January 2017 to December 2024, Heller solicited, and caused others to solicit, approximately $770 million from investors in the Prestige and WF Velocity ATM Funds, based on materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, including that the money they invested would be used by Paramount to purchase and operate ATMs and BTMs on behalf of the investors, and that investors would receive monthly payments for a period of approximately six to seven years, and those monthly payments made to investors would be funded through the operation of the ATMs and BTMs that the investors purportedly purchased from Paramount.

A substantial amount of the funds obtained from the Prestige and WF Velocity ATM Fund investors was not used by Paramount to purchase ATMs and BTMs as promised, but used instead to pay the monthly payments owed to earlier investors in the Prestige and WF Velocity ATM Funds, other ATM and BTM investors, Heller's personal expenses, and business debts incurred by Paramount and other companies that the defendant owned and controlled. In addition, thousands of the ATMs and BTMs that were purportedly purchased by Paramount on behalf of the Prestige and WF Velocity ATM Fund investors either did not exist or were not in operation and, thus, were not capable of generating any revenues.

To carry out and conceal the scheme, Heller created false and fraudulent records, which grossly misrepresented the number of ATMs and BTMs in Paramount's network and grossly overstated the revenues being generated by those ATMs and BTMs. Those documents were used to satisfy existing investors, solicit new investors, and deceive others by falsely representing that investor money was being used to purchase ATMs and BTMs and that the kiosks were generating sufficient revenues to make investor payments.

In or about April 2024, Heller caused Paramount to stop making monthly payments to investors after the Prestige and WF Velocity ATM Funds stopped providing substantial amounts of new investor money to Paramount. Investors have not received any payments since April 2024, despite Heller's promises from April 2024 to December 2024 to make payments to and buy out the investors.

Paramount went out of business in or about December 2024, and investors in the Prestige and WF Velocity ATM Funds have unpaid principal amounts totaling approximately $402 million.

The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on December 1 and faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $5 million fine. Restitution in an amount to be determined by the Court also shall be ordered. Forfeiture of all proceeds from the offense, in an amount to be determined by the Court, also may be ordered.

This case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Francis A. Weber and J. Andrew Jenemann. The Lancaster County Police Department, Lancaster County District Attorney's Office, East Hempfield Township Police Department, and Pequea Township Police Department provided investigative assistance.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed parallel charges against Heller last September, which are pending.