7 Investigates: ‘That was everything I had’- Investors left empty handed after alleged fraud scheme

They were promised profits but now investors across New England are left with regret One of those investors is Steve Tripp Tripp owns the TOP Strength Project a gym in Pawtucket Rhode Island It started small and then it grew to this Tripp noted He built the business from the bottom up Two years ago he was ready to keep growing So when one of his gym members Chris Aubin presented him with an funding opportunity he agreed It seemed like a great opportunity Tripp explained They were looking for investors to help front specific of these hard money loans and the returns were great Aubin ran a company called Anchor State Investments He claimed to be involved in private lending for real estate Investors thought they were lending money to fund evolution projects and would get back big returns I had my reservations is this legit or not but the thing was like I explained Chris was here every day he was a friend of mine and I knew where to find him Tripp announced In July Tripp invested around with Anchor State Investments He declared he was promised a return in just three months At first the money did come in Once those loans matured and I saw the kickback I was getting I rolled those into more loans and I invested a bit more money Tripp remembered By last summer Tripp watched his investments grow to around He decided to pull specific of the funds out to build a coffee shop within his gym I was like great I have all this capital saved up we re good to go so I put in for a transfer and it never came Tripp recalled Tripp mentioned instead of getting his money he got excuse after excuse He would invariably say next Monday next Wednesday next day and it kept going and going and going and going he remembered Tripp s account records with Anchor State Investments revealed he has only received of the nearly he s owed It s very frustrating but it s much bigger than just me Tripp revealed Investigates detected five lawsuits accusing Anchor State Investments and Chris Aubin of fraud Nearly people across Rhode Island and Massachusetts commented they invested money but are owed money from Aubin and Anchor State Investments In court records investors claimed checks bounced and they received fake wire transfers Everything he s done has basically been a lie reported Patsy Sperduto another investor who is owed money It s insane it s insane Sperduto was one of the first to sue Aubin and Anchor State Investments in May He maintains Anchor State Investments owes him around Now Sperduto can t help but wonder how that money was spent He seemed to be doing really well and going to buy custom suits out to dinner every night He put it out there like he was doing well Sperduto remembered Civil lawsuits alleged investors money was not used for any construction or real estate projects and instead Aubin used the loans to live an extravagant lifestyle that includes private jets helicopters luxury automobiles and expensive restaurants Aubin declined to comment The attorney for Anchor State Investments also declined to provide a report but stated the company plans to file a counter suit soon In court documents Anchor State Investments denied all statements of fabricating documents fraud and using investors money for personal expenses In the meantime people who placed their trust in Aubin wonder if they ll ever see their money again The one thing that keeps popping in my mind I have four kids that s one of their college educations I worked hard to give that to them and now that has been taken away Sperduto declared Investors reported Investigates they ve spoken with law enforcement and hope that leadership take criminal action against Aubin soon I don t think I have literally really accepted that I lost k It was just taken from me just like that I don t have it like that Tripp explained That was everything I had That was everything I had