A former Annapolis company CEO has been charged with securities fraud following accusations that he impersonated a licensed wealth adviser to con an investor out of $1.5 million. Adam Rundle, 37, now living in Makhanda, South Africa, was charged with one felony count of securities fraud after a criminal information was filed Friday, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
From Annapolis Firm to Federal Charge
The criminal case follows a civil lawsuit the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed against Rundle in September, as reported by the Maryland Daily Record. Rundle co-founded CleverProfits, an Annapolis-based company, and was once its chief executive before leaving in December 2023. He was represented by Dallas-based white-collar criminal defense attorney Michael J. Uhl, who declined to comment, the outlet reported.
According to the Daily Record, Rundle allegedly assumed the identity of an Annapolis wealth adviser he knew personally, per the SEC complaint, and used that false identity to promise an investor a guaranteed return. The SEC sued Rundle over the alleged scheme on September 11, 2026, and he agreed to a waiver of service of summons in that case, which means he acknowledged the lawsuit had been filed without requiring formal service.
Fake Assistant, Falsified Documents
The SEC accused Rundle of faking investment documents and creating an email address for a fake assistant named Sue Anderson, the Daily Record reported. Separately, as reported by Investment Executive, the SEC alleged that between November 2021 and January 2024, Rundle defrauded investors by impersonating an advisor and raising approximately $1.5 million, using email accounts he created in the name of the advisor and a fake assistant to send falsified offering documents, account statements and performance reports to investors.
The investment supposedly guaranteed the principal and paid a 4% annual return, Investment Executive reported. The Daily Record reported that Rundle allegedly encouraged the investor to obtain a federal economic injury disaster loan and put the funds into a company called Robinvest, which he had created shortly before the investment without disclosing that he owned it. The investor reportedly paid Robinvest $1.5 million in three installments, and those deposits were the first to go into Robinvest's bank account, according to the Daily Record. Rundle also allegedly contrived correspondence between the investor and the real wealth adviser to make the scheme appear legitimate.
Where the Money Allegedly Went
Rather than investing the funds as promised, the SEC alleges, Rundle misappropriated it, in part to buy crypto, pay personal expenses and to repay a loan, per Investment Executive. The SEC's civil complaint seeks injunctive relief, civil penalties and disgorgement. The criminal charging document alleges Rundle devised a scheme to defraud the investor, identified by initials A.K., through materially false and fraudulent pretenses, according to the Daily Record.
The investor was a customer of CleverProfits, the company Rundle co-founded. Current CleverProfits CEO Chayce Hastings, who took over in January 2024, the month after Rundle left, told the Daily Record that the company is cooperating with the authorities. Hastings also said Rundle holds zero ownership in the firm now operating as CleverProfits and that the company's current owners never shared an ownership stake with him. Hastings added that CleverProfits opposes illegal activities and holds team members to high ethical standards, but declined to comment further this week.
Rundle's Other Ventures
Outside of CleverProfits, Rundle has described himself as founder and chief financial officer of Lucro, a bookkeeping company for healthcare providers, according to his Facebook page as cited by the Daily Record. He also coached rugby at the United States Naval Academy while living in Annapolis, the outlet reported. It remains unclear from available court records how Rundle's criminal case will proceed or what plea, if any, he has entered.
