Kanawha County man indicted in investment scheme

CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – A Kanawha County man has been federally indicted on 15 counts following a year-long FBI investigation into an investment scheme.

According to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia’s Office, Theodore Miller, 34, of South Charleston is charged with twelve counts of wire fraud, one count of money laundering and two counts of obstruction.

The indictment states that Miller allegedly began conceiving and perpetrating two fraudulent schemes as early as October 2021. The indictment says the purpose of those schemes was to “bolster his businesses’ monthly cash flow” as well as to pay unrelated professional and personal debt, expenses and obligations.

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of WV’s Office says part of Miller’s scheme involved portraying himself on social media as “a wealthy and successful real estate mogul with enough disposable income to travel the world at his leisure.” The attorney’s office says in reality, however, Miller had poor credit, a thin month-to-month financial margin, was delinquent on property taxes and bills and had defaulted on loans.

According to the criminal complaint against Miller, the FBI said Miller frequently traveled abroad and was outside of the United States during much of their investigation. The indictment says this includes the time frame of around Feb. 12, 2022, to Aug. 8, 2024.

The complaint states the FBI began their investigation on March 14, 2023, after receiving a complaint from the West Virginia Securities Commission that Miller was allegedly “selling unregistered securities” to the public.

The FBI says, based on publically available information, Miller is the owner and operator of several businesses registered in the Mountain State. According to the criminal complaint, those businesses include Bear Industries, LLC; Prestige Worldwide Investments, LLC; Bear Investments and Business Consulting, LLC; Blue Steel Modeling Agency, LLC; T&C Construction Services, LLC; and Stark Industries, LLC; among others.

According to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of WV’s Office, one of Miller’s schemes involved defrauding investors by convincing them to invest in two real estate projects on Bigley Avenue. One of those alleged projects proposed to rehabilitate a small residential property into a dry-storage lot, and the other proposed to develop duplex housing.

The complaint says he allegedly promised his investors the return of their initial investment plus additional money once the project was completed and refinanced. The investors were also to share rental income from those properties.

The indictment says Miller used his false representation on social media to create “misleading promotional materials” for the investments. Between July 5, 2022, and Sept. 8, 2022, was able to get investors from California, Florida and Texas to wire him a total of $90,000 for the alleged projects.

However, once Miller had the money, he did not proceed with the projects and ceased contact with the individuals once they began inquiring about the projects. Both the indictment and the criminal complaint state that Miller actually never owned the properties involved.

According to the indictment, Miller’s second scheme involved tricking investors into investing in a pooled real estate investment vehicle called “Bear Lute.” Miller launched Bear Lute around May 2022 and began trying to direct his social media followers to invest by advertising it as “a way for ordinary people to invest in real estate and become wealthy and successful like him.”

Miller allegedly falsely advertised that Bear Lute generated exceptionally high and guaranteed returns, stating investors would receive a minimum return of 6%, but that the average investor generally received a return of more than 20%, and that they could request to withdraw their funds and receive them within 60 days.

The indictment says nearly all of Miller’s promises and representations of Bear Lute were not true, including that he owned the property that had been “pledged as security” for the investors. According to the indictment, Miller posted fake figures on an online investor dashboard meant to allow the investors to track and manage their investments, and then stopped communications with once investors began asking for their withdraws.

According to the indictment, Miller convinced more than 100 people to invest in Bear Lute between June 30, 2022, and Feb. 28, 2024. Through this scheme, he received more than $200,000 in investor funds. The indictment says two individuals in Texas wired Miller a total of $17,500.

The indictment also states that Miller also did not disclose to Bear Lute investors that the West Virginia Securities Commission had ordered him to “cease and desist” operations of Bear Lute.

According to the indictment, Miller used the money he got from the schemes toward personal expenses, business expenses and private investments, benefiting himself and a person who was allegedly the vice president of Miller’s “Bear Industries, LLC,” and acted as his agent while he was not in the United States.

The complaint also states that Miller “engaged and caused others to engage in” an electronic transfer of $20,000 between Bear Industries, LLC’s bank account and T&C Construction, LLC’s bank account, knowing the money transferred was “criminally derived.” The complaint says he also sought to have a backpack and cellphone “destroyed, concealed or altered.”

If convicted on his charges, Miller could face up to 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud, 20 years in prison for each count of obstruction, and 1o years in prison for money fraud.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOWK 13 News.