Judge Freezes 3 Woodland Hills Firms’ Assets

WOODLAND HILLS —  A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against three Woodland Hills corporations, following an investigation by the Securities Exchange Commission into the corporations’ involvement in an alleged Ponzi scheme.

U.S. District Judge Dickran Tevrizian on Monday froze the assets of Whitworth Energy Resources, Ltd., Williston Basin Holding, Corp., and Amerivest Financial Group, Inc. and their principals, Peter Sacker, Jerry W. Anderson and Robert M. Kerns. The judge also appointed a temporary receiver to evaluate the companies’ holdings and assets, said Karen Matteson, senior trial counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The receiver is expected to evaluate the assets and determine whether a court order will be needed to liquidate the assets in the future and hand over the proceeds to investors, Matteson said.

The complaint alleges that the six defendants operated a Ponzi scheme in which they told investors they were receiving interest on their investments but were actually making payments with money from new investors, Matteson said.

The defendants also commingled investments instead of safeguarding each investor’s funds in separate escrow accounts, Matteson said

Two investors did not receive recent monthly returns on their investments, meaning the alleged Ponzi scheme may have been ready to collapse, Matteson said.