Enforcement Actions: Criminal & Civil

On January 5, 2021, Bruce and Martha Pollock surrendered and appeared in Harris County District Court on felony charges of misapplication of fiduciary property and securing execution of a document by deception.

The indictments allege that Bruce and Martha Pollock took $15,000.00 from an...

A Dallas County Grand Jury indicted Clifford Wiley McCrary for theft and securities fraud in connection with the sale of securities issued by HLV Master Fund, LLC. He was arrested on November 17, 2020.

The indictments accuse McCrary of concealing his misuse of investor funds – using...

On September 25, 2020, Kenzley Ramos, from Lawrenceville, Georgia, was arrested and indicted for an investment scheme tied to COVID-19 .

Earlier this year, the Texas Securities Commissioner brought an action against Ramos, entering an Emergency Cease and Desist Order to protect Texans...

Robert Joseph Mangiafico Jr., from Dallas, Texas, was indicted for theft, securities fraud, securing execution of a document by deception and money laundering . The charges arise from the alleged fraudulent sale of investments in the Oklahoma Premier Trinity oil and gas well project.

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On June 3, 2020, Richard Leal Ferguson was arrested on charges of securities fraud and theft . He was also arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child. He was confined in the Cameron County Jail and his bond was set, collectively, at $700,000.00.

Ferguson is already...

Brett Pittsenbargar , an Austin insurance agent who allegedly sold $9.3 million in fraudulent investments, was arrested Feb. 19 to face first-degree felony charges of securities fraud , money laundering , and theft .

A Travis County grand jury's Feb. 4 indictment of Pittsenbargar was...

U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel on Feb. 13 sentenced Charles McAllister , the CEO of Austin-based Bullion Direct Inc. , to 10 years in prison and ordered him to pay $16.1 million dollars in restitution to 5,800 victims of his scheme.

A jury in U.S. District Court in Austin convicted...

Nathaniel Anthony Brooks Jr. , who pleaded guilty to a fraudulent commodity trading scheme, was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison in U.S. District Court in Austin on Dec. 20. Brooks pleaded guilty in October to a charge of monetary transaction in criminally derived property...

Sean Patrick Riley of San Antonio was sentenced to 10 years deferred adjudication after pleading guilty to second-degree securities fraud in the 188th District Court of Gregg County.

Riley paid $5,000 in restitution up front in the plea deal and was ordered to pay an additional $48,500...

A jury in U.S. District Court in Austin on Oct. 4 convicted Charles McAllister , the former CEO and owner of the Austin-based precious metals firm Bullion Direct Inc. , of two counts of wire fraud and one count of engaging in a monetary transaction with criminally derived property.

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A Harris County grand jury indicted Daniel Christopher Walsh July 17 on first degree felony charges of securities fraud, money laundering, and theft in connection with the sale of investments in oil wells that were supposed to be drilled in Galveston County.

The indictments were handed...

Danny Ray Digman , who served time in state prison in the early 2000s for operating a fraudulent investment program based on the revenue from mobile ATMs in Central Texas, was indicted May 1 in Randall County on multiple felony charges for allegedly perpetrating the same ATM fraud in the Texas...