Investors are still waiting for closure five years after allegations surfaced that a now-defunct Vancouver real estate investment company defrauded hundreds of people.
Oregon’s U.S. District Court approved a settlement Jan. 15 against American Equities Inc., associated American Eagle Mortgage Management, and the companies’ former president Ross Miles, as well as American Equities secretary Maureen Wile.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which brought the case to court in April 2022, said Miles, Wile and the companies violated the Securities Act of 1933, which prohibits fraud and misrepresentation in the sale of securities. The SEC also accused them of violating the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which prohibits using fraudulent or deceptive devices in the buying or selling of securities.
The district court ordered Miles and his companies to pay jointly $1.9 million plus $1.2 million in interest and a $230,464 civil penalty. Wile was ordered to pay $30,299, plus $21,778 in interest and a $80,000 civil penalty.
Fifteen of American Equities’ mortgage investment pools were declared insolvent and placed under receivership in 2019.
Portland-based financial consulting company Hamstreet & Associates, the court-appointed receiver, was tasked with performing a full accounting of the pools’ assets and selling them off to recoup funds for roughly 250 investors, many of whom lived in Clark County or the Portland-metro area.
Hamstreet stated in a lawsuit filed in 2020 that Miles and Wile mismanaged the companies for years, including lending themselves money from the investment pools and using investor money to make scheduled payments to existing investors.
Hamstreet initially estimated that the pools collectively held roughly $34 million in assets against roughly $77 million in liabilities.
Hamstreet settled an associated lawsuit against Vancouver-based Riverview Bank and Pacific Premier Bank in 2023 for $19 million, though it faced legal challenges from a group of seven Oregon investors almost immediately, according to Hamstreet’s website.
The parties reached a global settlement with the Oregon investors, and the bank settlement was funded in August, according to Hamstreet’s website.
Federal litigation against Miles is still pending in Oregon. And Clark County Superior Court Judge David Gregerson recently set a trial for Sept. 29 in Hamstreet’s lawsuit against Miles, Wile, American Equities Inc. and American Eagle Mortgage Management.
