3 Former Execs Of Alpharetta Firm Sentenced In $380M Ponzi Scheme

ATLANTA, GA — Three former executives at an Alpharetta investment firm have been sentenced to prison in connection with a $380 million Ponzi scheme, according to federal prosecutors.

Todd Burkhalter, a 55-year-old from St. Petersburg, Florida was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $233,777,763.82 in restitution to victims, prosecutors said.

He previously served as the founder and chief executive officer of financial firm Drive Planning and was accused of XXX, prosecutors said.

David Bradford, who was the chief operating officer of Drive Planning, pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in December 2025 after the Ponzi scheme cost investors millions of dollars, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office Northern District of Georgia.

The Peachtree Corners man was sentenced to four years and three months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, prosecutors said. He was also ordered to pay $4,297,878.16 in restitution to victims.

Julie Edwards, the 59-year-old chief administrative officer from Cumming, pled guilty to laundering proceeds of the Ponzi scheme. She was sentenced to two years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $630,000 in restitution to victims, prosecutors said.

What Happened?

The charges against the trio stemmed from an incident that occurred from late 2021 until around June 2024.

Federal prosecutors said Drive Planning marketed a "Cash Out Real Estate Fund," shortened to "CORE Fund." The executives claimed through the CORE Fund, potential investors were told 100 percent passive income would be provided from tax liens, the attorney's office said.

The investors were guaranteed a 10 percent return every six months, or a 22 percent return annually for up to three years, prosecutors said.

"Drive Planning further materially misrepresented that investors’ contributions to the CORE Fund were pooled together, government-protected and fully collateralized. As part of the scheme, Bradford created a marketing brochure to promote the CORE Fund, which was shared with Drive Planning’s sales agents to solicit investors," prosecutors said.

They added the money from the investors were actually being used to pay other Drive Planning investors, pay the commissions of Drive Planning agents and pay for personal expenses.

"Bradford and others at Drive Planning further concealed the scheme to defraud by failing to disclose that Drive Planning did not invest any funds in the CORE Fund after approximately Dec. 9, 2022. To the contrary, even after the Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating Drive Planning in approximately March 2024, Bradford and others continued to solicit investments for the CORE Fund. In total, Drive Planning received at least $4.1 million from CORE Fund investors," prosecutors said.

Furthermore, Burkhalter's Real Estate Acceleration Loan was a Ponzi scheme that defrauded at least 2,000 investors out of about $380 million, prosecutors said.

Any money collected from investors did not go toward their intended purposes but were instead used to pay Burkhalter's "ex-wife’s attorneys and expenses related to recreational vehicles," pay off other investors and pay for personal expenses, such as the following:

• $2 million to purchase a yacht;
• $2.1 million as part of a purchase of a luxury condo in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico;
• $800,000 on multiple luxury vehicles, including a 2020 Prevost Marathon motorcoach and two 2024 Land Rovers;
• Millions of dollars on luxury travel, including chartering private jets; and
• $320,000 on clothing, jewelry and beauty treatments.

Drive Planning, located at Avalon Boulevard, is currently in receivership and is permanently closed.