NEWS BRIEF: Atlanta businessman charged with defrauding investors
SEC claims fraud
The former executive director of the Turkish American Chamber of Com-merce used an Atlanta-based business as a front for defrauding investors, according to a complaint filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Com-mission on Friday in federal court. Omer Casurluk, AKA Timur Efe, raised about $9 million from investors in an affinity fraud scheme” targeting unsophisticated investors from Turkey who spoke little English, according to the SEC. The scheme involved using investors’ funds to buy restaurant franchises at inflated prices. Casurluk used much of the money for himself and to prop up other businesses, the complaint alleges. apnews.com