Great Lakes Wire

Andrew H. Middlebrooks, the former majority owner and chief executive officer of EIA All Weather Alpha Fund 1 Partners (EIA), has been sentenced to 100 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud charges. The sentencing follows a scheme in which Middlebrooks obtained over $39 million from investors through false pretenses and fraudulent promises, according to an announcement by United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr.

Reuben Coleman, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, joined Gorgon in making the announcement.

Middlebrooks, age 33, held multiple leadership roles at EIA and solicited clients by claiming he could exploit inefficiencies in global equity markets for large investor returns. However, the fund failed to achieve these returns and suffered significant losses.

Rather than informing existing investors about the fund’s poor performance, Middlebrooks continued to attract new investors with misleading statements about the fund’s results. He also misled current investors regarding their investment returns and distributed documents falsely portraying exceptional performance. In one document from fall 2019, Middlebrooks claimed a cumulative return of 476.81% with profits in more than 80% of monthly trading periods. The scheme eventually collapsed, resulting in losses exceeding $34 million for 97 investors.

“This financial charlatan used sophisticated methods and a complex web of deception to trick unsuspecting victims into trusting him with their money. Con artists like this will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” said United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr.

"The sentencing of Andrew Middlebrooks underscores the significance of white-collar crimes and the lasting harm they impose on hard-working Americans” said Reuben Coleman, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office. "White-collar crimes threaten the integrity of our financial systems and undermine the trust and security of communities. The FBI in Michigan will continue to investigate those who violate federal laws and ensure they are held accountable. I want to thank the dedicated members from our FBI Detroit Field Office and our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan for their tireless work in bringing this case to justice.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the investigation into this case, with assistance from the Securities and Exchange Commission.