Enforcement Actions: Criminal & Civil

Chad D. Taylor and Douglas L. Williams pleaded guilty on Feb. 25 to state charges stemming from their role in selling interests in non-existent oil and gas wells.

Williams, of Dover, Ark., pleaded guilty to money laundering in the 382nd District Court of Rockwall County and was...

Kurt Barton , the former CEO of Austin-based Triton Financial, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Austin on Feb. 15 on 33 charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and false statements regarding loans.

Barton faces a maximum of 30 years in prison.

Barton...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Charles Wayne Kilway was indicted Oct. 15 in Dallas County for securities fraud and theft in connection with the sale of promissory notes issued by a company called JBS Holdings LLC.

Kilway, of North Richland Hills, raised more than $200,000 from seven investors.

According to...

Tomme Bromseth pleaded guilty to mail fraud and structuring financial transactions to evade reporting requirements in connection with his sale of life-settlement investments for Houston-based A&O Life Funds and other A&O entities.

According to court documents , Bromseth sold...

Richard Donald Theye , who for nine years ran a securities and commodities trading operation from Austin, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on July 30 to one count of securities and commodities fraud and eight counts of wire fraud.

Theye was indicted June 1 after a joint...

Dennis Woods Bowden , one of the top executives at the now-defunct AmeriFirst Funding Corp. in Dallas, was indicted May 26 in U.S. District Court in Dallas on nine counts of securities fraud and six counts of mail fraud.

Bowden, on his own and through sales agents, allegedly sold...

Leland Anthony Patin of Dallas was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay $172,500 in restitution for securities fraud.

Patin was a salesman for Edward Digges, the architect of a multistate fraudulent scheme involving the sale and lease of credit card and debit card...