The ex-wife of an Atlanta-area advisor who has been hunted by the FBI since the fall for allegedly scamming about 100 investors as part of a Ponzi scheme involving illegal promissory notes is calling on him to give himself up.
In an interview with a WSB TV reporter in Georgia, Meredith Burns, the former wife of Christopher W. Burns, called on her husband to "turn yourself in," saying "it's time." She also told the reporter she had "no idea who I was living with" and "had no clue" that he was planning to divorce her and leave.
In a statement provided to the reporter, Kristen Novay, an attorney at Garland, Samuel & Loeb representing the ex-wife, said: "It bears repeating that Meredith Burns played no part in the operations of the companies" her former husband was involved in, "which is why Meredith has been listed as a relief defendant and not an actual defendant in the SEC complaint" that was filed against her ex-husband in November.
Meredith Stone "continues to cooperate fully and consistently with all law enforcement authorities," according to Novay.
Fraud, Divorce, Disappearance
The SEC complaint alleged Christopher Burns increased his promissory note sales in recent months, then disappeared with investor proceeds in late September. One day before he disappeared, Burns entered a divorce agreement with his wife that transferred many of their joint assets to her and, on the day he disappeared, he transferred his interest in their home to her, the SEC alleged.
In addition to the SEC complaint, he was also named as a defendant in a class-action lawsuit filed Oct. 28 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta.
