EMMITSBURG, MD - A sculpture built to honor the fallen firefighters from September 11th is now at the center of an alleged ponzi scheme.

At the feet of the firefighters lies some of the rubble from the attacks, serving as memories of heroism in the face of tragedy.  One of the last things the memorial should represent is fraud.

The artist who constructed the bronze statue is Stan Watts.  He says he got $300,000 from Coadum Advisors to fund the project, but had no idea how the money was being raised.  The original plaque on the statue says it was funded by an anonymous donor.

Coadum Advisors is the company the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says illegally used money from new investors to pay old investors.  They then transferred more than $18 million dollars to offshore accounts.

"We are not involved, did not know about it until we were contacted by the attorney on the case," said Charles Jaster, the chief financial officer at the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

Although the foundation and the artist say they didn't know about the ponzi scheme, the SEC has seized ownership of the statue.

The SEC has been unable to seize Coadum's offshore accounts.  Until someone agrees to purchase the statue and payback the investors who were duped, the statue's ownership will be in question.  But the heroism it represents still stands tall.

The artist says the goal is to find someone who will purchase the statue and then donate it to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.