An Atlanta financial advisor, Todd Burkhalter, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud after defrauding more than 2,000 investors out of approximately $380 million in a Ponzi scheme.
According to the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, the founder and chief executive officer of Drive Planning LLC, a financial advisory group based in Georgia, will be sentenced at a later date for his crime. The government is recommending a 17-and-a-half-year prison sentence when he faces U.S. District Judge Tiffany R. Johnson.
Another executive from Drive Planning, David Bradford, the former chief operating officer, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on Dec. 16, 2025, for his involvement in the scheme. He has a sentencing hearing scheduled for Mar. 17, 2026.
“Todd Burkhalter perpetrated what is likely the largest Ponzi scheme in Georgia history,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg in a written statement. “Unbelievably, Burkhalter shamelessly continued to scam his victims even while under federal investigation. Today’s guilty plea is just the first step in holding Burkhalter accountable for the considerable harm he caused.”
The scheme took place between
September 2020 and June 2024, during which Drive Planning offered prospective investors several investment opportunities, including the “Real Estate Acceleration Loan” (“REAL”) and the “Cash Out Real Estate Fund” (“CORE Fund”). Burkhalter informed them that it was “easy and simple” and that they did not need to be accredited investors to participate, while encouraging them to invest from retirement accounts, savings, and lines of credit.Investigators said Burkhalter told investors that they could be guaranteed a 10% return every three months, while also stating that the company offered short-term
loans—the bridge loans—to real estate developers who needed quick cash flow to complete projects or to fund new ones. Burkhalter directed his company to prepare fraudulent “collateral sheets” identifying properties, some of which were fake, with fictitious valuations that purportedly served as collateral for investments.With the fraudulent scheme, Drive Planning, while bilking its investors, Burkhalter used some of the funds for personal use, including:
- $2 million to purchase a yacht
- $2.1 million as part of the 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
- $320,000 on clothing, jewelry, and beauty treatments.
RELATED CONTENT: Bless Up! 21 Savage Reaches Out To Fellow Atlanta Artists To Forgo The Streets And Squash Beef