Missing Georgia investor linked to LBK building

Missing Georgia investor Aubrey Lee Price, accused of using two funds to orchestrate a $40 million investment fraud, is tied to at least 10 Manatee County properties, including the former bank building at 6960 Gulf of Mexico Drive on Longboat Key previously occupied by the Longboat Key, Lido Key, St. Armands Key Chamber of Commerce, according to property records.

On June 28 a federal warrant was issued for Price on wire fraud charges, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigations release. He disappeared after telling acquaintances that he lost a large amount of money and planned to kill himself, the release states.

Brian Kenney, co-owner of Whitney Beach Plaza, said he was “shocked” when a colleague called him earlier today to point out an MSNBC story that detailed the allegations against Price and his subsequent disappearance.

Kenney said that Price, who goes by his middle name, “Lee,” told him that he planned to open a bank at the building and possibly expand into the Sarasota area.

Kenney said that he made two offers on the bank building to Price. He said that he still is interest in buying the property, but it’s unlikely that a sale could occur in the near future because a judge granted a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) request for an asset freeze for the benefit of investors against Price, PFG Asset Management and affiliated entities.

Kenney said Price was a man who opened each business meeting with a prayer, abstained from alcohol and was involved in charity work in Venezuela.

“I don’t know if it’s true or not true,” Kenney said. “He seemed like an incredibly honest person. That’s why I’m shocked.”

Despite Price’s claims of suicidal intentions, the FBI continues to offer a $20,000 reward for information leading to his arrest; a flier states that he may travel to Venezuela or Guatemala.

The SEC alleges that Price raised money from more than 100 investors, most of whom live in Florida and Georgia, by selling shares in PFG, an unregistered investment fund that owns the local properties.

Price claimed to invest fund assets in traditional marketable securities while making illiquid investments in South America real estate and a troubled south Georgia bank, an SEC release states. In order to conceal mounting investor losses, the SEC alleges that Price created bogus account statements with false account balances and returns that were provided to investors and bank regulators.

Price left behind a 22-page letter that he labeled “Confidential Confession for Regulators” in which he wrote:
“ … I am 100% responsible for the losses I created. I blame no one but myself. Relating to PFG, LLC Investments, I falsified statements with false returns. I created false financial statements and defrauded investors, regulators, other work associates and bank employees. I lost money through trading and various investments including the Montgomery Bank and Trust securities portfolio … ”

PFG Asset Management LLC bought the north-end former chamber building from First Bank for $533,900 in August 2010, court records show, and quit-claim deeded to PFG LLC in March 2011.

After the purchase, Jim Price, who said that he served various roles in PFG and whose relationship to Lee Price was not immediately clear, told the Longboat Observer that the company offered portfolio management, investment advisory services and full-service insurance broker, including life, house and car insurance.

The company was considering moving one of its offices into the building or leasing it to a bank, Jim Price said in 2010. The property has remained vacant, although a PFG Asset Management sign stands outside the building.

Lee Price was last seen boarding a ferry boat June 16 in Key West, according to the FBI.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].