Seeman Holtz Lawsuit: $100M Judgment and Wells Fargo Case

The Seeman Holtz lawsuit is a set of overlapping cases arising from what Florida regulators call a decade-long Ponzi scheme that raised more than $400 million from over 1,000 investors, most of them elderly, through unregistered promissory notes marketed as safe and backed by life insurance policies. The Florida Office of Financial Regulation sued the Boca Raton firm and its principals in July 2021; that state action settled in September 2025 with a $100 million restitution judgment against surviving co-founder Marshal Seeman. A federal class action brought by defrauded investors and a separate proposed class action against Wells Fargo remain active, and a court-appointed receiver is running a claims process for investor recovery.¹

What Seeman Holtz Was Accused of Doing

National Senior Insurance, Inc., doing business as Seeman Holtz, sold promissory notes issued by a group of related entities called the Para Longevity Companies. The notes were pitched to seniors in affluent Florida communities as safe investments backed by a portfolio of life insurance policies, including Stranger-Originated Life Insurance (STOLI) policies and life settlements. Investors were told death-benefit proceeds would fund their interest payments and eventually return their principal.¹

According to the OFR, that is not what the money was used for. The complaint alleges the operators used new investor funds to pay returns owed to earlier investors, the classic Ponzi structure, while paying themselves through inflated fees and expenses. It also alleges that some of the insurance policies pledged as collateral to investors were fraudulently transferred to other lenders through Centurion Insurance Services Group and related entities. The agency says the enterprise raised more than $400 million since 2011 through misrepresentations about the safety of the investments, how proceeds would be used, and the financial health of the business.¹

Neither the firm nor its agents were registered as broker-dealers, financial advisors, or securities sellers with the state of Florida, the SEC, or FINRA, according to the federal class-action complaint. The notes were sold without the licenses or regulatory oversight that would normally apply to securities offerings.²

When notes began maturing in 2019 and 2020, investors were told the firm had “financial problems” and needed more time. Repayment never came. Individual investments ranged from $100,000 to $10 million, and many investors were in their 80s and 90s. One plaintiffs’ attorney said his clients alone represented over $100 million in investments.³

Who Is Being Sued

Marshal Seeman is the surviving co-founder and lead defendant. Co-founder Eric Holtz died in June 2021, days after the first lawsuits were filed; his estate was named as a relief defendant in the state action.⁴ Brian Schwartz, described in the federal complaint as the operation’s “untitled chief financial officer” and the president and CEO of Centurion Insurance Services Group, allegedly oversaw investor fund deposits, wire transfers, and the accounting behind the enterprise.⁵

The state complaint names more than 30 entities as defendants, including numerous Para Longevity LLCs, Centurion affiliates, Emerald Assets, and Grace Holdings Financial. The OFR says that corporate structure was used to move money and obscure the scheme.⁴

The State Case and the $100 Million Judgment Against Marshal Seeman

The Florida OFR filed its civil complaint on July 12, 2021, in Palm Beach County’s 15th Judicial Circuit Court, alleging violations of the Florida Securities and Investor Protection Act and seeking an injunction, a receiver, civil penalties, disgorgement, and restitution.⁴

The case settled before trial. A Notice of Settlement was filed on September 4, 2025, and the court entered orders of dismissal on September 15 and 16, 2025. On September 15, 2025, the court entered a Judgment of Permanent Injunction and Other Relief against Marshal Seeman, who consented without admitting or denying the allegations. The key terms:

A $100 million restitution award against Seeman, with civil penalties waived by the OFR to facilitate payment.
A permanent ban on offering or selling securities from Florida or to Florida residents, providing investment advisory services, acting as an affiliate of any securities dealer or issuer, and applying for any OFR licensure.
Equitable disgorgement claims folded into the restitution award.
A requirement to transfer ownership interests in certain non-receivership entities to the receiver, with credit toward restitution for their fair market value.
Explicit protection of Seeman’s Florida residence from execution under the state’s homestead exemption.⁶

Brian Schwartz and the Estate of Eric Holtz were voluntarily dismissed without prejudice on September 3, 2025. A separate settlement with defendant Prime Short-Term Credit was approved and that entity was dismissed on September 15, 2025.⁷

The Federal Class Action for Investors

Separately from the state enforcement action, a federal class action was filed on June 7, 2021, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Millstein v. Holtz et al., Case No. 0:21-cv-61179, was brought by Fanny Millstein, a 76-year-old Broward County resident, on behalf of all investors who purchased promissory notes from the Seeman Holtz entities.²

The complaint asserts violations of Florida securities laws, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, and violations of the Florida RICO statute.⁸ In September 2022, Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II denied Brian Schwartz’s motion to dismiss, finding the allegations sufficient to proceed.⁵ As of early 2026, the case remains active.²

The Wells Fargo Lawsuit

On June 4, 2024, a proposed class action was filed against Wells Fargo Bank in the Southern District of Florida. Millstein v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Case No. 1:24-cv-22142, alleges the bank aided and abetted the $300 million Ponzi scheme by serving as the primary bank, trustee, securities intermediary, and depository bank for the Seeman Holtz entities from 2011 through 2021.⁹

According to the complaint, Wells Fargo knew the operators were looting investor funds, paying themselves excessive fees, and fraudulently pledging collateral to other lenders, but allowed the scheme to continue in order to maximize its own revenue from account transfers and assets held in custody. The court-appointed receiver, Daniel Stermer, concluded that Wells Fargo provided “substantial assistance and services in furtherance of the Scheme.”¹⁰

Wells Fargo moved to dismiss and asked the court to stay discovery. The court denied the stay.¹¹ On March 24, 2025, U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation and denied the motion to dismiss, allowing claims for aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duties, aiding and abetting fraud, and unjust enrichment to proceed.¹² The bank declined to comment publicly on the matter as of mid-2024.¹⁰ Docket activity indicates the case remains active through at least June 2026. A parallel action brought by the receiver, Stermer v. Wells Fargo, was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice in February 2025.

How Investors Can Recover Money

Recovery for defrauded investors is being handled through a Florida state-court receivership. In September 2021, the court appointed Daniel J. Stermer, a former financial prosecutor with the Florida Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Litigation Unit, as corporate monitor with authority to identify assets, determine amounts owed, take control of corporate property, and liquidate assets for equitable repayment.¹³ In May 2023, the court entered an Order Appointing Receiver, formally elevating that role.⁷

Stermer now oversees 33 entities, including Grace Holdings Financial, LLC, which was added to the receivership estate in November 2023.¹⁴ The receiver has issued subpoenas to Wells Fargo Bank, U.S. Bank, and accounting firm Daszkal Bolton, reached a settlement with Fifth Avenue Physicians Services, LLC, and pursued fraudulent transfer claims against individuals who received payroll, commissions, and bonuses tied to the enterprise.⁷

In December 2024, the court approved the receiver’s motion to begin the formal claims distribution process. That process is the mechanism through which investors may ultimately receive some portion of their losses back, though specific amounts collected and distributed have not been publicly detailed in available court filings. Court filings and receivership updates are posted at the receiver’s public documents page.⁷ Investors who purchased Seeman Holtz or Para Longevity promissory notes and have not already filed a claim should consult the receivership site and, given deadlines and the parallel federal actions, an attorney familiar with the litigation.

1
Florida Office of Financial Regulation. OFR Files Civil Complaint Against Seeman Holtz
2
ClassAction.org. Seeman Holtz Sold Life Insurance-Backed Promissory Note Securities Without License, Class Action Claims
3
Claims Journal. Seeman Holtz Investors Denied Payment
4
Florida Office of Financial Regulation. Seeman Holtz Complaint
5
GovInfo. Millstein v. Holtz, Order on Motion to Dismiss
6
National Senior Monitorship. Joint Motion for Entry of Final Judgment, Marshal Seeman
7
National Senior Monitorship. Monitorship Documents
8
Top Class Actions. 76-Year-Old Investor Fears Savings Vanished After Investing, Seeman Holtz Class Action Lawsuit
9
Bloomberg Law. Wells Fargo Sued for Allegedly Aiding and Abetting Ponzi Scheme
10
Legal Dive. Wells Fargo Sued in Alleged $300 Million Ponzi Scheme Targeting Florida Seniors
11
CourtListener. Millstein v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Docket
12
CaseMine. Millstein v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Order Adopting Report and Recommendation
13
Boca News Now. Seeman Holtz: As Fraud Investigation Continues, Court Assigns Monitor
14
National Senior Monitorship. Receiver’s Motion to Approve Settlement With Fifth Avenue Physician Services