Robynne Alexander was known as a “Real Estate Investor Goddess,” who taught others how to make fortunes investing in property.
But the woman behind the failed $21.5 million bid for the Laconia State School property is now set to plead guilty in a federal fraud case after she allegedly stole millions from her former students, according to the New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation.
“Many individuals put their entire retirement savings into the hands of Alexander, who abused their trust and enticed them with returns that she could not deliver,” said Michael Gallagher, Bureau staff attorney.
After investigations by the Bureau of Securities Regulation and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Alexander agreed to pay more than $3 million in restitution to her victims, in addition to the criminal charges filed in federal court.
According to the Bureau’s consent order with Alexander, she took money from 30 people, many of whom she met through her investing classes. She touted her experience developing large projects like apartment complexes and retail developments without telling her investors that her short history in real estate mostly consisted of flipping houses.
Alexander created several LLCs for various projects and used investor money for some start-up costs, as well as high-interest loans from “nontraditional” lenders for the rest. She never told her investors about the loans, according to the consent order. She also didn’t tell them about using their money for her own personal expenses, fictitious payments to investors she liked, or a month-long vacation to Paris, Barcelona, Valencia, Nassau, Florida, and New Orleans.
Some investors were enticed by too-good-to-be-true 80 percent projected returns on their money. Her projects ran into trouble, and Alexander began paying some investors with money from other investors, the classic hallmarks of a Ponzi scheme.
After Gov. Chris Sununu pushed for a law in 2021 to let him manage the sale of the Laconia State School property, Alexander put herself and one of her companies forward with a $21.5 million bid to turn the 600 acre property into a new village that included housing, retail, entertainment, hiking trails, and more.
Alexander’s winning bid began getting negative attention as people close to the deal started asking questions about her financing. Her $21.5 million bid was far higher than the other offers the state received.
Sununu, guest hosting for Jack Heath’s radio show, said Friday as news broke that former Executive Councilor Ted Gatsas (R-District 4) gets credit for raising arms about Alexander.
“You know, Gatsas was one of the ones on the council that said, ‘We could have a problem here.’ And, you know, he really understood the financing of some of the things with that organization,” Sununu said.
After at least four deadlines passed for Alexander to close the Laconia deal, Sununu and the councilors moved on.
“And after three or four extensions, we’re like, ‘Okay, enough is enough.’ And we pulled the plug, rightly so. But Ted was one of the ones who was just really smart in terms of what we were potentially walking into. And [he] put up the red flags for us, and really drove the message to get us to pivot, and it was clearly the right thing to do.”
The state is currently working with a new investment group that has an offer to buy the property for $10 million.
The Laconia State School bid came apart just as Alexander’s whole business model imploded.
“Eventually, the high interest rates from nontraditional lenders, various lawsuits, and the promised returns to investors caught up with [Alexander], and her scheme collapsed,” the consent order states.
Alexander is paying $3 million to victims through the SEC enforcement actions, and another $96,000 to victims through the New Hampshire Bureau investigation. She also agreed to give up any licensing to sell securities anywhere, and not to be head of any company anywhere.
“This settlement shows that people will be held accountable when they mishandle and misuse investor funds for their own personal gain at the expense of hard-working individuals who are simply trying to meet their retirement goals,” Gallagher said.
