Tuesday, June 9, 2026 – Federal authorities today renewed their urgent call for information leading to the arrest of Christopher W. Burns, a former Registered Investment Adviser and broker, who stands accused of orchestrating a sophisticated $10 million Ponzi scheme. Burns, currently on the FBI’s ‘Most Wanted Fraudsters’ list, faces a reward of up to $150,000 for details that could lead to his capture and conviction, as new developments in the ongoing investigation bring his alleged crimes back into the spotlight.
Burns, born December 11, 1982, in Wayne, Pennsylvania, is charged with 10 counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, and four counts of money laundering. These charges stem from an alleged multi-year investment fraud that defrauded approximately 100 victims across Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida. The scheme, which ran from February 2017 to September 2020, saw Burns allegedly misrepresent a ‘peer-to-peer’ lending program, promising high returns on investments he claimed were backed by collateral that either did not exist or was vastly overvalued.
The mechanism of the fraud was a classic Ponzi scheme. Burns allegedly lured investors with false claims of pooling their money to lend to startup businesses and charities, often promising interest rates as high as 20% with little to no risk. Instead of legitimate investments, he allegedly diverted new investor funds to repay earlier investors, sustain a lavish lifestyle, and cover business expenses, including airtime for his weekly radio program, ‘The Chris Burns Show.’ The promissory notes he issued were also found to be illegal unregistered securities under Georgia law.
“Burns allegedly exploited the trust of his clients, leveraging his public persona as a financial expert to solicit millions for a fraudulent lending program while funding his own extravagant lifestyle,” stated a source close to the investigation.
Before his disappearance, Christopher W. Burns had cultivated a public image as a trusted financial advisor. He hosted ‘The Chris Burns Show’ and appeared on television, offering financial guidance. He conducted his business through several entities, including Investus Advisers LLC (doing business as Dynamic Money LLC), Investus Financial LLC, and Peer Connect LLC, all of which are now implicated in the alleged fraud.
The investigation into Burns’ activities has been a joint effort by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). The fraud began to unravel when Burns vanished on September 24, 2020, just one day before he was scheduled to provide documents related to his businesses to the SEC. His vehicle was later found abandoned in Dunwoody, Georgia. An initial federal arrest warrant for mail fraud was issued on October 23, 2020. This was followed by an SEC civil complaint and asset freeze on November 12, 2020, and a federal grand jury indictment on April 11, 2023, expanding the charges to include wire fraud and money laundering.
With Christopher W. Burns still at large, the criminal case remains pending. However, a federal court has already ordered Burns and his companies to pay over $12 million in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and a civil penalty of $652,629 to his victims. His ex-wife, Meredith Burns, was named as a relief defendant in the SEC’s civil case and agreed to return $320,000 in funds he had transferred to her, highlighting efforts to recover some of the misappropriated assets.
The hundreds of victims, some of whom reportedly invested between $300,000 and $500,000, are left grappling with significant financial losses. This case serves as a stark reminder of the red flags investors should heed to protect themselves from similar schemes.
Investors should always verify that investments are properly registered with regulatory bodies. Be wary of promises of exceptionally high returns with little to no risk, a hallmark of Ponzi schemes. Vague descriptions of investment programs or collateral, coupled with an advisor’s lavish lifestyle funded by investor money, are critical warning signs. The SEC noted that Burns became “even more brazen” in increasing the sale of promissory notes in the days leading up to his disappearance, raising $320,000 in the week before he vanished and withdrawing most of it to his personal accounts. Such aggressive, last-minute sales tactics can indicate impending collapse. Always conduct thorough due diligence, and be extremely cautious if an advisor is known to be under regulatory scrutiny. For more information on preventing investment fraud, visit our related fraud investigations.
