Attorney General Gansler Issues Cease and Desist Against Maryland Mortgage Company

BALTIMORE, MD ( April 22, 2010) - Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that his Securities Division has ordered Montgomery County-based WEI Mortgage Corporation, and its principal, Wesley Yuan, to cease and desist violating Maryland’s securities laws. The order charges WEI Mortgage Corporation and Yuan with engaging in the offer and sale of unregistered, non-exempt securities in the form of “FPP” or “Funding Participation Program” promissory notes, while misrepresenting to investors that the FPP notes were not securities investments, and that the investments involved “little to no risks.”

According to the order, WEI Mortgage Corporation advertised the sale of its notes to the general public by way of its website, www.weicorp.com, as well as in advertisements in the Asian Gazette and Washington Chinese News newspapers circulated in Maryland. WEI Mortgage Corporation’s website identified the FPP program as offering a fixed rate of return and as having advantages over other more mainstream investments such as bank CDs, mutual funds and stocks. The website also claimed that proceeds from the sale of FPP notes would be used to fund WEI’s mortgage business and that FPP earnings were derived from WEI’s practices in originating, financing and trading mortgage loans.

“All securities investments involve some degree of risk that the value of the investments will either go up or down,” said Attorney General Gansler. “The Order requires WEI Mortgage Corporation and its principal to cease from soliciting investors by misleading them into believing that these investments are without material risk and that the offer and sale of the promissory notes are not regulated by the Securities Division.”

WEI Mortgage Corporation is headquartered in Rockville and licensed as a mortgage lender in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Florida, South Carolina, California and Georgia. In making today’s announcement, Attorney General Gansler thanked the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation’s Division of Financial Regulation for referring this matter to the Securities Division. Any person who made an investment in an FPP note is encouraged to contact the Securities Division at 410-576-7649.

Before making any investment with an individual or company, consumers should call the Securities Division to verify the salesperson’s registration in the securities business, to inquire into the status of the product being offered and to review any disciplinary history for the salesperson. The Securities Division can be reached at 410-576-6360. A copy of the Securities Division’s order can be found at http://www.oag.state.md.us/Securities/Actions/2010/summary_order_wei.pdf