SEC accuses 4 people in alleged Ponzi scheme
Federal regulators have accused four people and two companies of fraud in an alleged $30 million Ponzi scheme that lured 300 investors nationwide in purported eco-friendly investments involving a Montgomery County firm.
The Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that Wayde McKelvy and Donna McKelvy, who are married, used their Centennial, Colo.-based company Speed of Wealth to find investors for Mantria Corp., based in Bala Cynwyd.
The SEC filed a complaint in federal court Monday in Denver alleging that the McKelvys and Mantria executives Troy Wragg and Amanda Knorr of Philadelphia overstated Mantria's successes to lure investors.
The Philadelphia Business Journal reported this week that Wragg and Mantria were featured in a 2007 article. Wragg and Knorr, a former student from Temple University, claimed in that article that they launched Mantria in May 2005 with about $5,000 cash. Wragg also claimed that he made his first million by age 23.
Wragg and Knorr didn't return a phone message seeking comment. Donna McKelvy's voice mail wasn't accepting messages. Wayde McKelvy's phone number wasn't listed.
