News Releases

Jeffrey Ray Filla was arrested April 6 after having been indicted in Fort Bend County on securities fraud and other charges stemming from his sale of investments in Prophecy Fund LP, a commodities trading program whose collapse he tried to conceal with false financial statements and...

Securities Commissioner John Morgan entered an Emergency Cease and Desist Order March 25 prohibiting Lonestar Mineral Assets LLC and Kenneth Wayne McKay from illegally offering for sale unregistered investments in mineral royalty rights and not disclosing information about McKay's background, which...

Alberto Alba Villarreal , who testified in court that he had previously earned $20,000 a month as a consultant for insurance and other businesses in Mexico and the United States, was sentenced to five years in prison Jan. 16 after being convicted of theft of property for stealing money that was...

The Texas State Securities Board today announced its participation in the nationwide online Electronic Filing Depository (EFD), a system developed to make it more efficient for issuers to offer certain exempt securities offerings throughout the United States and to improve transparency for investors...

The Texas Securities Commissioner on Dec. 11 entered an Emergency Cease and Desist Order against Clifton Curtis Sneed Jr. of Cedar Hill, whose record includes a conviction on securities fraud charges in 2007 and related sanctions by state and federal regulators for a fraudulent investment scheme...

State pension funds provide an attractive benefit for public-sector employees: a monthly annuity payment for life. These benefits are attactive to investment salespeople as well. They can reap a windfall in commissions and fees by convincing public sector workers to roll over some or all of their...

The State Securities Board today released a list of the most common types of fraudulent investment schemes and offered strategies to avoid becoming a victim. Emerging red flags on this year’s list include digital currency transactions, stream-of-income investments, and new ways in which unregistered...

William Charlton Mays IV, a former investment adviser representative in Corpus Christi, was sentenced to 20 years in state prison on Sept. 18 after being convicted on securities fraud and theft charges. Mays was sentenced to 20 years for fraud and 10 years for theft in the 214th State District Court...

Christopher Anthony Zaal of McKinney was arrested Sept. 8 after having been indicted in Collin County on charges of securities fraud and money laundering for obtaining at least $2.27 million in fraudulent investment schemes. Zaal allegedly committed fraud when he sold promissory notes and other...

Frisco attorney Kelly Gordon Rogers, convicted of first-degree felony theft for stealing $1.3 million from investors in fraudulent oil and gas schemes, was sentenced to 20 years in state prison on May 28 and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine. The case was prosecuted in Collin County State District Court...