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PAGE 2A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. OCTOBER 8. 2020
Georgia is joining multi-state effort
to stop investment fraud scheme
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - Georgia is
joining 29 other states in a
coordinated crackdown on an
alleged fraudulent precious
metals scheme that has so
licited more than $180 mil
lion from seniors and other
investors.
Attorney General Chris
Carr and Secretary of State
Brad Raffensperger an
nounced Wednesday that
Georgia and the other states
have joined the U.S. Com
modities Futures Trading
Commission in a federal
court petition seeking en
forcement action against
Beverly Hills, Calif.-based
Metals.com.
"We are concerned that
the defendants capitalized on
investor fear of market insta
bility and economic uncer
tainty causing investors to
suffer substantial losses from
retirement savings,” Carr
said. “We will continue
working together to protect
older Georgians.”
“Preying on the elderly
and vulnerable is terrible at
any time,” Raffensperger
added. “Doing so during pan
demic-driven economic un
certainty compounds the
egregious wrong done to
Georgia’s seniors.”
The petition alleges that
TMTE Inc., which goes by
several other names includ
ing Metals.com and Barrick
Capital Inc., sold precious
metals at grossly inflated
prices, targeting elderly in
vestors through traditional
and social media and provid
ing unregistered investment
advisory services designed to
“instill fear in elderly and re
tirement-aged investors and
build trust with investors
based on representations of
political or religious affinity.”
Investors were advised to
liquidate their holdings at
registered investment firms
to fund investments in pre
cious metals through self-di
rected individual retirement
accounts and bullion coins,
the petition said.
The defendants also are
accused of failing to disclose,
among other things, what
Metals.com and Barrick
charged investors for their
precious metals bullion prod
ucts and that investors could
lose the majority of their
funds immediately upon
completing a transaction. The
defendants charged investors
prices for gold or silver bul
lion averaging from 100%to
more than 300% the melt
value or spot price of that
gold or silver bullion.
In many cases, the market
value of the precious metals
sold to investors was substan
tially lower than the value of
the securities and other retire
ment savings investors had
liquidated to fund their pur
chase.
In addition to claims
under federal law, Georgia al
leges the defendants also vi
olated state securities laws,
including failure to register
as investment advisors, fraud
in the sale of commodities
and securities, and the unlaw
ful sale of commodities.
Losses to Georgia investors
were about $5 million.
The petition asks the court
to order the defendants to
cease sales activity, return
money to investors, and stop
defrauding investors and vio
lating federal and state laws
going forward.
The attorney general’s and
secretary of state’s offices are
encouraging investors to
come forward if they suspect
they have been targeted by
similar precious metals in
vestment schemes.
Please email registra-
tions@sos.ga.gov or call
470-312-2640.
Georgia launches new hotline
to report human trafficking
By Beau Evans
Staff Writer
Capitol Beat News Service
Georgia officials have
launched a new hotline for
alerting authorities to in
stances of human and sex
trafficking as part of Gov.
Brian Kemp’s crackdown on
trafficking cases in the state.
Suspicions or information
on human trafficking in
Georgia can be reported to
law enforcement agents, ad
vocates and first responders
by calling 1-866-END-
HTGA.
The hotline also comes
with a new website at
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The hotline’s launch fig
ures among work to reduce
human and sex trafficking in
Georgia that has been spear
headed by Kemp and First
Lady Marty Kemp, whom
the governor tapped to lead
the trafficking-focused
GRACE Commission.
“By using this hotline to
report suspicious activity, all
Georgians can play a role in
advocating for those who are
at risk and those who are ex
ploited,” Marty Kemp said
Wednesday. “All Georgians
can help save lives.”
The state Criminal Justice
Coordinating Council is
funding the hotline via fed
eral grants.
The hotline was an
nounced during a roundtable
meeting Wednesday with the
Kemps, state and federal law
enforcement officials and
trafficking victim advocates.
They discussed new Geor
gia laws aimed at curbing
trafficking, efforts by police
to rescue victims and federal
funding meant to boost serv
ices like recovery housing.
Georgia saw more than
400 human trafficking cases
in 2019, marking an increase
from the prior year, accord
ing to the most recent federal
data.
“It’s recent and it’s contin
uing,” said U.S. Attorney
Byung J. “BJay” Pak, who
attended the roundtable. “I
would like to be out of this
business where there’s no
more cases and there’s no
more victims, but we all
know that’s not happening.”
State officials have
handed the Georgia Bureau
of Investigation more fund
ing this year to set up a task
force for investigating human
trafficking cases. That fund
ing, on top of a sharper focus
on trafficking prosecution
brought by the governor, has
already yielded dividends.
Last month, the agency
worked with the U.S. Mar
shals Service, Georgia Attor
ney General Chris Carr’s
office and local law enforce
ment to rescue nearly 40
missing children in Georgia,
many of whom were consid
ered at high risk for traffick
ing.
“You’re not going to sell a
human being in this state,”
said GBI Director Vic
Reynolds. “If you do, we’ll
find you, arrest you and pros
ecute you.”
The Sheriff’s
Beat
From the Pickens
Sheriff’s Office
During this past week, the Pickens Sheriff’s Office responded
to or initiated 1,014 calls for service. These numbers are
taken from the report provided directly from the 911 Center
where all calls are logged as they
are performed. Below is a
breakdown of all dispatched calls by the call type for each in-
cident.
Accidents
22
Suicide Threats / Attempts
2
Domestics
19
Theft / Burglary Related
13
Forgery / Fraud
2
Traffic Stops
51
Citations Issued
5
Animal Investigations
10
Suspicious Persons/Activity
23
Alarm Calls
10
Stranded Motorists
5
Street Hazards
8
Vandalism
1
Abandoned Vehicles
3
Extra Patrol - neighborhoods, businesses, residences 608.
In addition to these, other calls include search warrants, civil
service, 911 hang-up calls, assaults, disorderly persons, miss
ing persons, assistance with medical calls, natural death in
vestigations, demented persons, funeral escorts, harassment,
trespassing, and many more.
Breakdown of Charges for those Arrested:
18 individuals were booked into the Adult Detention Center
on charges from the Pickens Sheriff’s Office. Out of these,
the following charges were taken by PSO deputies (note:
some individuals have multiple charges):
Accountability Court Violation
6
Harassing Phone Calls
1
Driving Under the Influence
1
Violation of Ga Controlled Substance Act
3
Outstanding Warrant
2
Bond Violation
1
Simple Battery
1
Battery
2
Aggravated Assault
1
Cruelty to Children
1
Interference with a 911 Call
1
Probation Violation
1
In addition to the activity
on the left, from the Uni
form Patrol Division, Court
Service Deputies reported
the following statistics for
the past week:
Persons Scanned at
Front Door: 807
Weapons Found: 2
Courts Held: 8
Arrest Made in the
Courthouse: 2
Civil Papers Received : 48
Civil Papers Served: 35
In the Adult Detention
Center:
Total Jail population: 59
Total male inmates: 45
Total female inmates: 14
Sex Offenders:
There are currently 70 sex
offenders registered with
the Pickens Sheriff’s Office.
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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
Pickens Co. Commission Chair
Kris Stancil
U.S. President
Donald Trump
U.S. Congressman
Andrew Clyde
U.S. Senator
lavid Perdue
GA State Representati
Rick Jasperse
A State Senator
Steve Gooch
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