2017
Arthur P. Wilson of Addison, who sold approximately $400,000 in fraudulent investments in non-existent oil and gas drilling projects, pleaded guilty to securities fraud and was sentenced to eight years in state prison on June 29 in Collin County State District Court.
Wilson, the founder and owner of Alerli Resource Group LLC in Addison, was indicted in 2015 for securities fraud and other charges for selling investment contracts and interests in oil and gas leases in working and royalty interests in two separate projects. Wilson sold the investments in 2012 and 2013.
Wilson intentionally failed to tell prospective investors in the drilling projects that the Texas Securities Commissioner in 2010 entered an Emergency Cease and Desist Order against Wilson and Aleris Petroleum.
The order found that Wilson falsely told investors he was a "registered member with the Texas State Securities Board,"when in fact he has never been registered in any capacity to sell securities in Texas. In addition, Wilson, while previously doing business as a company called Millionaire Energy Group LLC, had sold a $150,000 investment in an oil and gas drilling project in Louisiana. He did not drill the well and did not return the investor's money.
Wilson also did not disclose a civil lawsuit filed against him and Areli Resource Group in 2013 by investors in a previous oil and gas drilling project. The suit, filed in Collin County State District Court, also names another company Wilson controlled and several of his business associates.