Georgia Investment Manager Charged with Siphoning $6M from GEICO

A Georgia grand jury has indicted an investment manager, charging that he diverted almost $6 million from GEICO Insurance for his own use.

Dwayne Peterson Davis, 54, of Atlanta, was a business partner with GEICO in a multimillion-dollar commercial development in North Augusta, South Carolina, known as Riverside Village, the U.S. Attorney for Northern Georgia said in a statement Tuesday.

After GEICO wired millions to an account controlled by Davis, the man allegedly began “siphoning off money from the Partnership’s account and secretly transferring it to accounts that he controlled at other banks—accounts that were not related to the Partnership,” prosecutors said.

The federal indictment was not available Wednesday and a GEICO declined to comment. But the U.S. Attorney’s statement indicated that Davis was a minority owner in a partnership investment fund. GEICO was the majority owner and had contributed $26 million as an investment in Riverside Village. In 2021, GEICO agreed to add another $5.91 million to resolve a dispute over unpaid taxes, settle a construction lawsuit and avoid foreclosure proceedings.

Davis used some of the funds to pay taxes but never settled the lawsuit or made payments to stop foreclosure, prosecutors said. Instead, Davis allegedly diverted funds to unrelated bank accounts, paid personal debts and paid expenses on other business ventures.

“Davis occupied a position of trust in his relationship with his business partner and allegedly abused that trust to facilitate and conceal his fraudulent conduct,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan said in the press release. “His alleged diversion of his business partner’s funds to pay personal expenses has resulted in Davis potentially facing decades in federal prison.”

Local news reports in the last two years suggest the Riverside Village development has faced financial, legal and regulatory challenges. A Georgia bank in 2022 filed for foreclosure on three properties associated with apartments at Riverside Village, the Post and Courier and North Augusta Star reported.

In May of this year, Riverside Village missed tax deadlines. A stadium parking facility at one point owed $193,000 in property taxes and penalties, although some taxes had been paid earlier this year, the news sites noted.

Topics Georgia