Man accused of using Turkish background to defraud investors

ATLANTA (AP) — Federal regulators have brought civil charges against a Georgia man they say defrauded investors who shared his Turkish cultural and religious background. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint Friday in federal court in Atlanta against Omer Casurluk and Star Chain Inc., a company he started. The SEC complaint says that from November 2016 until 2019, Casurluk raised about $9 million from investors, allegedly to acquire franchise quick-serve restaurants as equal co-owners. The complaint says Casurluk and Star Chain were actually giving the investors an inflated purchase price to make it look like they had contributed, when in reality the restaurant was purchased with the investor’s money alone.