A Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz lobbyist and a lawyer at the firm, both based in Jackson, Mississippi, loaned money through their investment company to a fraudster who admitted this week to running a $100 million Ponzi scheme, according to court and government financial disclosure records.

The two Baker Donelson figures are Brent Alexander, a nonlawyer lobbyist who serves as a senior public policy adviser at the firm, and shareholder Jon Seawright, a health care and tax lawyer who is also on the firm's board of directors. Their names have been in the news in light of apparent financial ties between their investment business, Alexander Seawright LLC, and admitted Ponzi schemer Arthur Lamar Adams.

David Kaufman of Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, a lawyer for Alexander and Seawright and their LLC, said in a statement that the two were victims of Adams' scheme and were unaware that Adams wasn't running a legitimate business. He said their investment company is “a private business completely separate and apart from Baker Donelson, which had no involvement.”

As of Friday, neither Alexander nor Seawright had been named in any criminal or civil lawsuits tied to the fraud.

Alexander's and Seawright's apparent connection to Adams' fraud emerged in news reports last week, when U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, confirmed that he and his wife were victims of Adams' fraud. Wicker's investments began in 2015 and went through one of Alexander Seawright's vehicles known as Alexander Seawright Timber Fund I LLC.

According to Senate financial disclosures, Wicker began his investments in 2015. For that year and 2016, the politician put in between $111,000 and $440,000, and received between $10,000 and $30,000 back in interest. He also received another $37,666.67 in 2015 and $127,979.16 in 2016. Those amounts appear to represent repayment of loan principals, according to the financial disclosures.

Federal prosecutors allege Adams spent at least seven years using his business, Madison Timber Properties LLC, to fraudulently attract more than $100 million in investments from more than 250 people spread across 14 states. As part of a “sophisticated Ponzi scheme,” prosecutors said, Adams told investors that his business bought timber rights from landowners and then sold those rights to lumber mills at a profit. Adams sought out people to invest in loans that he claimed would be used for financing contracts to purchase the timber rights, and he promised investors interest rates of 12-13 percent on the loans.

However, instead of using the money to purchase timber rights, Adams put funds from new investors toward purported interest payments to existing investors, prosecutors said. A parallel civil case, brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, alleged that Adams used investor money to cover personal expenses and an unrelated real estate project.

Under an agreement with prosecutors, Adams, 58, of Jackson, entered a guilty plea on Wednesday in federal court to one count of wire fraud. He faces up to 20 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced in August, according to prosecutors. Adams would also be required to pay restitution to cover investor losses. Although prosecutors said Adams took in more than $100 million in investments, it was unclear how much investors lost.

Prosecutors also said in their charging documents that Adams used “recruiters” to help attract new investors. These recruiters, none of whom are named in court documents, were paid commissions for referring investors to the supposed timber rights business, according to the criminal information filed against Adams. One recruiter received roughly $2.45 million in commissions in 2017, while another was paid $1.63 million in 2017, prosecutors said.

“Many recruiters also invested their own money,” prosecutors said in court documents.

The charging documents against Adams said that he was “aided and abetted by others,” but as of Friday, no other criminal defendants had been named. At least one private civil suit has also been brought against Adams, Madison Timber Properties and another person associated with the company, William McHenry.

Kaufman, the lawyer for Alexander and Seawright, has said the two Baker Donelson figures were caught up in the fraud like other victims.

“Brent and Jon are members along with others of Alexander Seawright Timber Fund I LLC. The LLC loaned money to Lamar Adams' timber business, which turned out to be a complex financial fraud,” Kaufman said in a statement. “Brent and Jon were not aware of this fraud, and are profoundly concerned for the people who loaned money with them through the LLC.”

A Baker Donelson spokeswoman provided a statement on Friday, explaining that the firm did not represent Adams, his company or any of his investors. The statement also specified, as Kaufman did, that the business dealings of Alexander and Seawright were done in their personal capacity and were not firm matters.

“The U.S. attorney claimed Lamar Adams and Madison Timber Properties LLC created a 'sophisticated Ponzi scheme' with 'false timber deeds,' forged notarized signatures and many other false documents,” the firm's statement said. “Baker Donelson did not represent Lamar Adams, Madison Timber Properties LLC, Alexander Seawright Timber Fund I LLC, or any lender or investor in her or his decision. While this matter is related to the personal business of employees of the firm, it is not a firm matter.”

Neither Alexander nor Seawright responded on Friday to requests for comment.