McIntyre, Hilton Head businessman barred from doing business in SC, loses appeal
A Hilton Head Island businessman accused of using investors' money for personal expenses has lost his appeal of an S.C. Attorney General's Office order barring him from doing business in the state.
On May 7, Circuit Court Judge Tanya Gee affirmed the order that John McIntyre pay a $540,000 fine -- $10,000 for each of the 54 violations -- and be permanently barred from doing business in the state.
McIntyre was barred Nov. 20 after an investigation and hearing conducted by the Securities Division of the Attorney General's Office, a process that first began April 19, 2013, when McIntyre was ordered to stop soliciting investments in the seven companies he managed.
One of those companies, Silver Oak Energy, and its five investors paid nearly $400,000 for a tract in Marlboro County, N.C., to set up a farm growing giant Miscanthus grass, a renewable energy source.
However, McIntyre used some of that money for personal expenditures, often hiding his tracks by mislabeling them in company records, investigators said.
For example, money spent at Victoria's Secret was entered instead as "Vic's on the River," and at Evergreen Pet Lodge as "Evergreen Buffet," the order said.
Other purchases -- jewelry and women's shoes, for example -- were labeled to appear as purchases from a company that constructs and manages greenhouses. Expenses attributed to Home Depot actually went to a jeweler and to pay application fees at Vanderbilt and Wake Forest universities, the order said.
Putting their investment in McIntyre's hands gave him control to spend that money, but not on personal expenses, the judge's ruling said.
"Although these sections grant broad discretion to the Manager ... that discretion is not so broad as to allow Mclntyre to use investors' money as his personal piggy bank or as a source of funds for other business entities," the ruling read.
In his appeal, McIntyre argued, among other things, that his due process rights were violated because the Attorney General's Office functioned as the investigator, prosecutor and judge in the administrative proceeding, and failed to adhere to rules of procedure and evidence in the proceeding.
The judge, however, cited S.C. Supreme Court cases that already ruled that the attorney general's dual role does not constitute a violation of due process and said McIntyre failed to provide any examples of when the office was impartial.
Attempts Tuesday to reach McIntyre's attorney, Robert Mathison, for comment were unsuccessful.
S.C. Attorney General's Office spokesman Mark Powell said McIntyre still can appeal to the S.C. Court of Appeals.
Powell said Tuesday that McIntyre and Silver Oak have been referred for a criminal investigation.
The original investors' lawsuit accused McIntyre and his Silver Oak Land Management of fraud and mismanagement, civil theft, gross negligence, unfair trade practices and breach of duties. However, that suit has been on hold since March 2013 while the securities investigation and subsequent appeal proceeded.
Follow reporter Matt McNab at twitter.com/IPBG_Matt.
Related content:
- Hilton Head Island businessman ordered to pay $540,000 fine , Nov. 24, 2014
This story was originally published May 19, 2015 at 5:57 PM with the headline "McIntyre, Hilton Head businessman barred from doing business in SC, loses appeal."