U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 23533 / May 5, 2016

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Marquis Properties LLC, Chad Deucher and Richard Clatfelter, Civil Action No. 2:16-cv-00040 (D. Utah)

United States v. Chad Roger Deucher, No. 2:16-cr-00189 (D. Utah)

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that Chad R. Deucher, of Orem, Utah, who was charged in an SEC enforcement action earlier this year, has been indicted for operating a fraudulent real estate scheme.

The federal criminal indictment was filed in Utah federal district court on April 27, 2016 and unsealed on the same date. It alleges that between March 2010 and February 2016, Deucher operated his entity, Marquis Properties LLC, and collected approximately $28 million from 250 investors while operating it as a Ponzi scheme. The indictment alleges that Deucher falsely told investors:

  • the investments would be used exclusively to purchase or rehabilitate properties when in fact, Deucher diverted funds to make Ponzi payments, payments to unrelated businesses, and payments for personal purposes;
  • the investment funds would be sent to an escrow account to purchase and rehabilitate properties when in truth, the account funneled money from investors to Marquis;
  • that Marquis owned several properties and would sell from its inventory of properties to investors when in fact, many properties sold by Marquis were not owned by Marquis at the time of sale or at the time of investment; and
  • that some investors could earn 8 percent per year for three years while other were promised 16 to 22 percent over about one year including rental income However, since Deucher diverted funds for other unauthorized uses, Marquis was incapable of making rent payments or other returns to many investors.

On January 19, 2016, the SEC charged Deucher and Marquis with violating the antifraud and securities registration provisions of the federal securities laws arising from substantially the same conduct as alleged in the indictment. The SEC obtained an asset freeze and other ancillary relief against Deucher and Marquis. The complaint also named Marquis Executive Vice President Richard Clatfelter as a defendant and Deucher's wife, Jessica Deucher, as a relief defendant for the purpose of recovering investor funds paid to Marquis. The SEC's litigation is continuing.

For more information see Litigation Release 23451 (Jan. 21, 2016).