Christopher W. Burns, then 37, of Berkeley Lake, Georgia, a registered investment adviser who operated Investus Advisers LLC (doing business as Dynamic Money), Investus Financial LLC, and Peer Connect LLC, disappeared on September 24, 2020, the day before he was scheduled to turn over documents to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a civil fraud inquiry. Burns left his Berkeley Lake home and was last confirmed in the area of a parking garage at 8 Perimeter Center in Dunwoody, Georgia, where his vehicle was later found abandoned containing copies of three cashier's checks totaling more than $78,000. Family members initially received text messages purporting to be from North Carolina, which were later determined to be fabricated. The SEC filed a civil fraud action against Burns and his companies on November 13, 2020 (Case No. 1:20-cv-04620, N.D. Ga.), and the FBI's Atlanta Field Office announced an arrest warrant for one count of mail fraud on October 23, 2020.
On April 11, 2023, a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia indicted Burns on 10 counts of wire fraud, 2 counts of mail fraud, and 4 counts of money laundering, alleging he defrauded more than 90 investors across Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina of at least $10 million through a purported "peer-to-peer" lending program that falsely claimed to be backed by collateral. The SEC separately obtained a default judgment ordering over $12 million in disgorgement/restitution and a $652,629 civil penalty. Burns remains a fugitive; on June 4, 2026, the FBI added him to its newly launched "Most Wanted Fraudsters" list, and a reward of up to $150,000 is offered for information leading to his arrest. The case is investigated jointly by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI's Atlanta Field Office at 770-216-3000 or submit a tip at tips.fbi.gov.
