Adviser Accused of Embezzling His Firm’s Employee Retirement Savings, Ponzi Scheme

A federal grand jury in Ohio indicted the owner of a Cleveland wealth management and financial advisory firm on charges of embezzling his employees’ retirement contributions and operating Ponzi and mortgage fraud schemes to obtain more than $1.2 million.  

According to the indictment filed on October 1 by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Ohio, 54-year-old Seku Shabazz, formerly known as Jason Brooks, the president and CEO of Great Lakes Retirement Planning LLC, allegedly stole money from his employees’ 401(k) retirement saving plan contributions and withheld employer matching contributions from January 2020 through May 2022. He allegedly used approximately $38,000 of the retirement funds for his own benefit, including paying for memberships at a yacht club and private social club. 

Prosecutors say once Shabazz spent the retirement savings, he ran a Ponzi scheme in which he recruited people to invest in a mortgage-backed investment vehicle, the funds for which he then spent on himself and at times used for payments to earlier investors and creditors. Shabazz allegedly carried out a series of interrelated frauds to obtain funds from various individuals and entities, according to the indictment. 

In 2024, while Shabazz was negotiating with the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration to repay more than $97,000 to his employees’ 401(k) plan, he took out a mortgage on a home he did not own and used part of the $220,000 in proceeds to replenish the company 401(k) plan, according to the indictment. Owners of the house owners only learned about the mortgage once they received a notice of foreclosure, according to prosecutors.

Shabazz is charged with:

• Embezzlement from an employee benefit plan;
• 7 counts of wire fraud;
• 3 counts of engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property; and
• 2 counts of aggravated identity theft.

If convicted, he could face a sentence of more than 150 years in prison.

Shabazz, a licensed investment adviser, founded Great Lakes Retirement in 2017, according to his company’s website, and in 2022 founded the Great Lakes Family of Companies LLC, which includes commercial mortgage, rental mortgage and loan servicing businesses, as well as a specialized securities broker/dealer, Great Lakes Securities LLC.

“When those entrusted with safeguarding workers’ retirement savings betray that trust for personal gain, EBSA will hold them accountable,” said L. Joe Rivers, the regional director of EBSA’s Cincinnati office. “This indictment sends a clear message that stealing employees’ hard-earned 401(k) contributions is a serious federal crime.”

In a separate proceeding, the Ohio Division of Securities is still deciding whether to revoke Shabazz’s license, according to FINRA’s BrokerCheck website. Shabazz is accused of failing to disclose the pending litigation during an exam in July 2025 and falsely stating that no advisory clients were involved in his other investment-related businesses.

The federal investigation into Shabazz was conducted by the FBI’s Cleveland Division, the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of Securities, and EBSA.

Shabazz was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service on October 9 and denied release on bond.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Miller represents the prosecution for the Northern District of Ohio, and Shabazz is represented by two public defenders. Great Lakes Retirement did not immediately respond to a request for comment.