News Releases

Gabriel Claudio Jr., who stole millions of dollars from clients of his illegitimate financial services firm in Corpus Christi, was sentenced to 25 years in state prison on Aug. 7 and ordered to pay $2,795,254 in restitution to investors. Claudio was sentenced in the 79th District Court of Jim Wells...

Texas Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles entered an Emergency Cease and Desist Order August 6 against a computer repairman who transferred nearly $28,000 from a financial account of an 88-year-old resident of Del Rio. The cease and desist order is the first action taken by the Securities...

Everett Craig Williams was sentenced to 20 years in state prison on July 18 and ordered to pay $189,000 in restitution to investors in a fraudulent real estate program with victims in Nueces, Collin, and Harris counties. Judge Bobby Galvan of the 94th State District Court of Nueces County sentenced...

Texas Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles took emergency action July 11 to stop a network of companies from fraudulently offering cryptocurrency-related investments to Texas residents. The companies named in the Emergency Cease and Desist Order are controlled by Darren Olayan of Lehi, Utah, and...

In the first six months of 2018, the Texas State Securities Board continued its national leadership role in protecting investors from fraudulent cryptocurrency-related investment products. Texas Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles entered nine administrative orders against some of the most...

Bobby Eugene Guess, who at one time touted his investment skills through a radio show called “Dollars & Sense” and with in-person financial seminars, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on July 3 for fraud in the sale of millions of dollars in securities in a worthless internet company. Guess...

The following are summaries of administrative actions the Texas State Securities Board took from April 1 through June 30, 2018: Estrada Trucking, Capital Cash, Financial Freedom Club, Mark J. Moncher, 911MoneyStore Inc., and Frank Dalotto: Emergency Cease and Desist Texas Securities Commissioner...

The Texas State Securities Board distributes thousands of copies of its Texas Investor Guide each year to individuals, associations, community organizations, and families. A few dozen of the nearly 4,000 copies we've distributed so far in 2018 have gone to families who plan to hand them out during a...

James Dean French was sentenced to eight years in state prison on June 4 after pleading guilty to first-degree felony securities fraud in connection with the sale of investments in a purported West Texas oil and gas project. French was sentenced in the 230th State District Court of Harris County...

Timothy Lloyd Booth, a former pastor in McKinney, was sentenced to 68 years in state prison on May 23 after his conviction in the 296th District Court of Collin County on first-degree felony charges of theft and securities fraud. Booth, 60, stole approximately $23 million from mostly elderly...