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The Federally Indicted Wire-Fraud Felon Receiving Trust-Account Funds

Among the largest individual recipients of wires out of the Messner Reeves trust account in 2023, according to the publicly filed bank statements, is Daniel Chartraw — a name that returns immediate red flags on any basic public-records search.

In 2012, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of California returned an 18-count wire fraud indictment against Chartraw (Case No. 2:12-cr-00184), charging him with operating a string of advance-fee schemes between 2007 and 2011, including the so-called “Darwin Mine Fraud,” an “Oil Broker Fraud,” a “Dairy Financing Fraud,” a “Gold Refinery Financing Fraud,” and a “Trading Platform” fraud involving a phony offshore institution called “Cascabel Bank.” The indictment alleged Chartraw obtained approximately $2.4 million from victims and used the funds for personal expenses. He was ultimately sentenced to 57 months in federal prison.

On November 21, 2024, a federal grand jury in the same district returned a new 12-count wire fraud indictment against Chartraw (Case No. 2:24-cr-00311), charging him with operating a cryptocurrency-themed advance-fee scheme through entities he controlled named TDA Global and Crypto-Pal, LLC. According to the indictment, Chartraw stole at least $400,000 from investor-victims and converted it to his own personal use through cash withdrawals, debit card purchases, and transfers to family-member accounts, spending the proceeds on “travel, dining, and other personal expenses.”

Chartraw is currently out on bail awaiting trial in that case.

“Titan Financial, LLC” — A Wyoming Shell Registered Under a Messner Reeves Email

Public records on file with the Wyoming Secretary of State raise further questions. Articles of Organization filed on November 7, 2023 show the formation of a limited liability company called Titan Financial, LLC, registered to a Wyoming mail drop at 30 North Gould Street, Suite N, Sheridan, Wyoming.

The organizer of Titan Financial, LLC is identified as Donna DeFalco, signing as “Authorized Signer.” Her contact email on the public filing is [email protected] — a Messner Reeves law firm email address. Her contact phone is (801) 683-2022, a Salt Lake City–area number.

The November 7, 2023 incorporation date is significant: it is more than three months after the publicly filed bank statements show the $8.345 million in plaintiff deposits had already been transferred out of the Messner Reeves trust account.