Enforcement Actions Criminal Civil

Four principals of Aspen Exploration Inc., the Dallas-based company that sold interests in fraudulent oil-and-gas programs to investors across the United States, pleaded guilty Jan. 26 in U.S. District Court in Dallas. William Anthony "Tony"Rand of Plano and two of his sons, Gregory Keith "Greg"Rand...

Alan Keith Nelsen and Mary Alice Monteza of San Antonio were arrested the week of Jan. 24 on a felony theft charge in connection with an alleged "prime bank"scheme. According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed by the Bexar County Sheriff's office, Nelsen and Monteza signed a contract with a San...

Wayne Anthony Rand , who orchestrated an extensive oil-and-gas scam, was sentenced to 20 years in state prison on Jan. 24 after pleading guilty to a felony charge of theft. Rand was sentenced in Rockwall County state district court. Rand raised approximately $8 million from dozens of investors who...

Samuel Longoria of Mercedes, convicted of the sale of unregistered securities and the sale of securities without a license, was sentenced Jan. 19 to a probated 10-year state prison sentence and ordered to pay $1.5 million in restitution within a year. The sentence, handed down in the 445th state...

Travis County state District Judge Stephen Yelenosky on Jan. 7 approved a Temporary Restraining Orderagainst Warr Investment Group LLC and Warr International Group LLC , Austin-based firms that allegedly sold illegal investments in violation of a Cease and Desist Order issued by the Texas State...

A Harris County grand jury on Jan. 5 indicted Howard Judah and Gregory Jablonski on charges of securities fraud and sale of unregistered securities. Judah, a three-time federally convicted felon, was the former CEO of National Life Settlements LLC of Houston, and Jablonski was a principal in the...

Thomas Lester Irby of Frisco on Dec. 20 was sentenced to 24 years in state prison on a money laundering charge in connection with his sale of purported high-yield investments from European banks. Irby was also sentenced to 10 years deferred adjudication on charges of theft and securities fraud and...

Adley Husni Abdulwahab was indicted Dec. 15 on six federal charges of securities fraud, aiding and abetting, and conspiracy for allegedly selling millions of dollars of "collateralized secure debt obligations"through the W Financial Group (WFG). Abdulwahab and other principals of WFG took in more...

Richard Donald Theye was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Nov. 19 after pleading guilty in July to one count of securities fraud and eight counts of wire fraud. Theye ran a securities and commodities trading operation from Austin for nine years, promising investors returns of up to 2% a month. A...

Michael K. Wallens Sr. pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud on Oct. 19 in U.S. District Court in Dallas. Wallens and his associates collected more than $17 million from about 180 investors who bought Collateral Secured Debt Obligations issued by W Financial Group. Wallens falsely told...