Terrence Chalk, also known as “Dr. Cash,” has been sentenced to three years in prison for investment adviser fraud. The announcement was made by Jay Clayton, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Chalk had previously pled guilty on May 7, 2024, before U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr., who delivered the sentence.
“Defrauding retirees, using the common bond of faith to build trust, is a horrible crime, one that disturbs all New Yorkers,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. He emphasized the commitment of his office and law enforcement partners to bring fraudsters exploiting shared ethnic or religious backgrounds to justice.
According to court documents and public statements, Chalk began promoting an investment fund in 2017 under the alias “Terrence Cash” or “Doctor Cash.” This was done to conceal his previous convictions for multiple fraud offenses in 2006. His website portrayed him as a top business and wealth coach offering money management sessions promising high returns through a fund called the “Chairman’s Fund.”
Chalk primarily targeted elderly investors and conducted seminars at Black churches where he presented himself as a man of faith aiming to assist fellow Christians. Initially, victims received quarterly payments from their investments in the Chairman’s Fund and even encouraged others to join. However, by late 2019, many stopped receiving payments and were falsely informed they couldn’t withdraw funds for ten years.
In total, approximately 26 individuals invested around $4.8 million with Chalk’s fund under false pretenses; none of it was used as promised but instead funneled into entities controlled by Chalk or spent on personal luxuries such as credit card bills and luxury items like NBA season tickets and a BMW.
In addition to his prison sentence, Chalk will serve three years of supervised release and must pay restitution determined later.
Jay Clayton commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s work on this case and acknowledged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s involvement in filing a parallel civil action.
The case falls under the oversight of the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force with Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam S. Hobson leading prosecution efforts.
