Dothan woman among trio facing illegal sale of investments charges

Federal authorities are trying to seize a Dothan woman's property which they say was acquired through an unlawful investment scheme.

The Dothan woman, Ann Forehand, and two other women, were recently arrested after a Houston County grand jury returned indictments against them for charges of Alabama securities violations.

According to court records, authorities recently arrested 61-year-old Forehand, along with Debra Myers, 40, of Lynn Haven, Fla., and Ashley P. Murcko, 36, of Pensacola, Fla., on felony charges.

Records say Forehand faces two charges, which include the sale by an unregistered agent and the sale of unregistered securities. Records say Myers and Murcko face two counts each of the same charges. Murcko has retained Dothan lawyers Shaun McGhee and Derek Yarbrough to represent her.

All three women were released from the Houston County Jail after they posted $80,000 bail.

Houston County District Attorney Doug Valeska said each of the securities violations are class C felony crimes, which if convicted carry a possible punishment of one to 10 years in prison.

Valeska said it’s likely a prosecutor from the Alabama Securities Commission will jointly prosecute the cases with his office when they go to trial.

Yarbrough said his client was only an investor.

“Most of the folks actually made some money, and there at the end lost some money,” Yarbrough said. “We never sold any securities or got any kickbacks for any securities.”

Dan Lord, a spokesperson with the Alabama Securities Commission, said they could not release any information about the recent arrests.

Federal court records indicate lawyers with the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a complaint against Forehand in federal civil court in December 2011, seeking the forfeiture of property she owned in Sevierville, Tenn. The federal government, records say, seeks to forfeit her property because they claim she acquired the property through illegal fraudulent actions.

Records indicate Forehand owns the property in Tennessee, which was bought for $540,000 in 2009.

The federal filing said those illegal actions were discovered in November 2009 after an FBI agent began working an alleged investment fraud scheme investigation that was originally started by the Dothan Police Department.

The filing said Edward Forehand and his lawyers came forward in late 2009 to Dothan police after a Dothan woman, Vicky Jo Yeager, died in a storage shed fire. Forehand reported that he suspected Yeager might have been involved in an investment scheme at the time of her death. He reported his company, USA Marketing, was affiliated with Yeager’s company, ELITE Marketing.

Forehand said ELITE established agreements with colleges to sell them cookware, which would be used to pay for culinary courses. The filing said Forehand started in 2005 doing business as USA Marketing to solicit investments on behalf of Yeager’s company. They required a minimum investment of $5,000.

The filing said there was no listed business license listed in the city of Dothan for Forehand and USA Marketing even though they had a Dothan business address.

According to the federal filing, the Alabama Securities Commission said neither Edward Forehand nor his wife, Ann Forehand, were registered agents with the state of Alabama while accepting investments for USA Marketing. Additionally, the filing said the securities sold to investors by USA Marketing were not registered.

Records say an answer was filed by Ann Forehand in federal court by attorney Martin Adams where she admitted both she and Edward Forehand were not registered agents in the state of Alabama.

The federal filing said the Alabama securities inquiry revealed 196 people had invested with USA Marketing. The filing also said investors’ money was “mingled” among accounts controlled by both Edward and Ann Forehand, part of which was allegedly used for personal expenses and to buy property.

Ann Forehand denied any criminal wrongdoing in the response filed by Adams.

Records indicate the Alabama Securities Commission issued an order in 2010 to Edward Forehand and Murcko to stop the sale of securities in Alabama. The order said the two were involved in a high-end cookware investment that promised large returns. The order from the commission said there were at least three investors of $1 million.