Hilton Head Island businessman McIntyre indicted on charges of fraud
A Hilton Head Island businessman accused of funneling investors' money into personal expenses such as house payments and purchases at Victoria's Secret has been indicted on charges of criminal fraud.
John McIntyre, 61, was indicted by a Beaufort County grand jury Nov. 19 on three fraud charges related to his reported misuse of funds during his time as manager of seven local timber and biofuel companies from July 2007 to December 2012.
Investors believe McIntyre misappropriated more than $600,000 from the seven investment groups over a five year period, witnesses in the case claim.
McIntyre faces two felony counts of breach of trust with fraudulent intent for allegedly using funds from the Silver Oak Land Trust to pay his personal property taxes. A third charge of violating the S.C. Uniform Securities Act alleges McIntyre used more than $20,000 of investors' funds between the companies for his personal benefit.
McIntyre was already compelled to pay $540,000 in fines and was permanently barred from doing business in South Carolina in an April 2013 cease and desist order from by the Securities Division of the Attorney General's Office related to the fraud allegations. McIntyre lost a subsequent appeal. A circuit court judge affirmed the ruling in May 2015.
One of the companies involved in the claim, Silver Oak Energy, and its five investors paid about $145,000 for a tract in Clio, S.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, dentist fees 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.
The criminal charges filed last month will add to the financial and professional penalties McIntyre has already faced. McIntyre faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $50,000 in the most serious of the three charges.
"On behalf of all of the investors with whose trust Mr. McIntyre allegedly violated, many of whom were close friends, I'm grateful to the South Carolina Attorney General's Office," said Richard Silver, one of the investors in companies McIntyre managed.
Silver is among a group of investors that filed a lawsuit against McIntyre in October 2012.
The suit accuses McIntyre and Silver Oak Land Management of fraud and mismanagement, unfair trade practices and breach of duties, among other complaints.
The suit is still unresolved after an unsuccessful mediation attempt this October.
It is unclear whether the criminal charges will have a significant effect on the civil suit, Silver said.
Attempts Monday to reach McIntyre 's attorney, Robert Mathison, for comment were unsuccessful.
"We've been frustrated that the wheels of justice turn very slowly," Silver said. "But we're glad to see now that McIntyre is getting some repercussions."
Reporter Matt McNab contributed to this report. Follow reporter Erin Heffernan on Twitter at twitter.com/erinh.
Related Content:
- Investors in Hilton Head green energy firm sue former manager, October 29, 2012
- Hilton Head investors defrauded, says AG's office, May 11, 2013
- McIntyre, Hilton Head businessman barred from doing business in SC, loses appeal, May 19, 2015
This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 3:42 PM with the headline "Hilton Head Island businessman McIntyre indicted on charges of fraud."