CHARLOTTE, N.C. – 26-year-old Frank Mercado pleaded guilty and will be sentenced to prison for defrauding 100 victims of nearly $700,000 through an investment scheme.
Mercado’s investment fraud scheme lasted from July 2019 to December 2022 and his victims included friends and former co-workers. According to the Department of Justice, Mercado claimed to be an expert in options trading and told the victims that he would use their money for options trading and investments through his hedge fund, Tiger-Wolf Capital, LLC.
He used the money he received to fund his personal lifestyle and pay for personal expenditures, including Airbnb rentals, restaurants and bars. Mercado admitted he also used the money to make Ponzi payment to previous investors.
Court documents show that Mercado did invest some of the money he received from the victims, but suffered trading losses and lied about the performance of the investments to the victims.
The wire fraud charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. A sentencing date has not been set.
