Background of the Case

On October 13, 2022, the Oklahoma Department of Securities (ODS) filed a civil action in Oklahoma County District Court against Premier Global Corporation of Derby, Kansas, and its control person, Steve Jonathan Parish, along with DDI Advisory Group, LLC of Plano, Texas, and its control person, Richard Dale Dean, as well as numerous sales agents, for their parts in connection with the fraudulent offering of securities to hundreds of individual investors, many retired, in 19 states.

In the action, the ODS has alleged that the Defendants offered and sold securities in the form of promissory notes and transferee agreements in violation of the securities registration and agent registration provisions of the Oklahoma Uniform Securities Act of 2004 (Act). In addition to the securities and agent registration violations, the ODS alleged that the securities were offered and sold in violation of the anti-fraud provisions of the Act.

Among the alleged material misrepresentations and omissions, investors were falsely told that Premier and its affiliated entities were very profitable when in fact they were not, and that each “PF” entity, as the issuer of the promissory notes, would own its purchased factored invoices when in fact it did not.

Investors’ money was used to pay principal and interest to other investors because actual business revenue from Premier Global’s limited factoring activity was in no way enough to support the interest payments and return of principal to investors. Substantial sums of investor money were also being used for personal expenses, luxury expenditures, and the payment of sales commissions.

As part of the action filed by the ODS, the Court appointed a receiver, Eric L. Johnson, to take control of Premier and its affiliated entities and to marshal the assets. Certain assets were frozen by the Court as well. Pleadings filed by the ODS are available below. Status reports filed with the Court by the Receiver are also available below. The Receiver has established a website for additional information.

Receivership Website

Actions by the Receiver

The Receiver is working to take custody of all assets and records and to evaluate and maximize assets for investors, creditors, and parties who have an interest in Premier Global Corporation (f/k/a Premier Construction Services, Inc. and doing business as Premier Construction Billing), Premier Factoring, LLC; PF-2, LLC; PF-3, LLC; PF-4, LLC; PF-5, LLC; PF-6, LLC; PF-7, LLC; DDI Advisory Group, LLC; Steve Jonathan Parish; Richard Dale Dean; Premier Factoring Group, LLC; and KCI Business Services LLC (collectively, “the Receivership Entities”).

The Receiver has sold numerous assets of the Receivership Entities. He has filed sixty (60) petitions in Sedgwick County, Kansas seeking recovery of money from individuals who received from the receivership estate more than what they paid into the Receivership Estate. Such actions are generally referred to as “claw-back” actions. Twenty-three (23) of these cases have been settled and resulted in recoveries of $718,546.52 to the Receivership Estate. The Receiver has asked the Court to approve these settled actions.

The Receiver has sold the custom-built home of Steve Parish in Derby, Kansas for $1,500,000.  The Receiver has also sold the home of Steve Parish’s in-laws in Derby, Kansas, through which the Receivership estate will receive $436,000.00.

The Receiver has retained the services of an expert in life settlement valuations to help determine the market value of life settlement policies held and or managed by the Receiver. Factors such as the current life expectancy assessments; projections of future monthly death benefits and minimum premium payments; calculation of monthly cash flows; and calculations of the present value of projected cash flows using market rates for similar policies.

Related Actions by the ODS

Currently, the ODS is in the discovery process with banks, Defendants, and other witnesses, to gather evidence related to alleged violations of the Act.

On September 14, 2023, the ODS filed for a permanent injunction against Robert Boone, an agent of Premier, in Creek County, Oklahoma (CJ-2023-00249). The ODS alleged that Boone offered and sold securities in Oklahoma and was not registered, nor exempt from registration, under the Act. Mr. Boone allegedly sold a promissory note issued by Premier entity, PF-3, to an elderly resident of Creek County. The resident invested her entire life savings of $775,000. The ODS asked the Court to grant a permanent injunction against Boone, preventing him from transacting business in/from Oklahoma as an issuer, broker-dealer, agent, or investment adviser and from offering and/or selling securities in Oklahoma. In a settlement of the case, the Court issued the permanent injunction and ordered partial restitution to be paid to the elderly investor.

Over the past two years, the ODS has opposed numerous fee applications of Defendants Richard Dale Dean and DDI Advisory Group, LLC, and their counsel.  Both the Receiver and the ODS continue to request that the Court deny any payments to these Defendants and their attorneys to ensure the maximization of funds available for investor recovery.

A Pretrial Conference is currently set for April 2025. At that time, a trial date will be set. It is estimated that the trial will last three weeks.