2011
Dennis Woods Bowden was convicted Dec. 21 on four counts of securities fraud and five counts of mail fraud for his role in the AmeriFirst companies of Dallas, which sold $50 million worth of fraudulent debt obligations to more than 500 investors.
Bowden faces sentencing in U.S. District Court in Dallas in April. Bowden was the chief operations officer at AmeriFirst Funding and AmeriFirst Acceptance.
The federal indictment of Bowden details how investors' money paid for an airplane, sports cars, a condominium, and real estate for used car lots, as Bowden was in that business as well.
Stephanie Tourk, an enforcement attorney in the Dallas office of the State Securities Board, served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the prosecution, which was led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Buie.