News Releases

Jul 9
2020

Houston May Have a Problem…

The Texas State Securities Board issued two emergency cease and desist orders against firms and individuals claiming to provide lucrative investment opportunities in international cryptocurrency trading platforms that trade bitcoin and mine cryptocurrency. The subjects of the orders purport to...
Jul 7
2020

Commissioner Shuts Down Fraudulent International Multilevel Marketing Investment Scheme In Texas

Texas Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles entered an emergency action to stop Mirror Trading International PTY LTD, a South African international, multilevel marketing get-rich-quick scheme. He also cited four of its stateside, multilevel marketing agents, accusing them of illegally soliciting...
Jun 17
2020

Today's Texas State Securities Board Action is Best Served with a Caffeinated Beverage - It's a Long Read About Long Running Oil and Gas Bad Actors

Texas Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles entered an Emergency Cease and Desist Order against Emilio “Mike” Barrera, Jr., a McKinney resident now wearing a monitoring device while on house arrest, from allegedly promoting a fraudulent nationwide oil investment scheme. Barrera, who was recently...
Jun 16
2020

Texas State Securities Board Update on North American Response to COVID-19 and its Impact on Retail Investors

The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) today updated the status of the work of the COVID-19 Enforcement Task Force, consisting of state and provincial securities regulators, to identify and stop potential threats to investors stemming from the pandemic. Since March 1st, the...
Jun 12
2020

Securities Commissioner Announces Settlement of Claims Against Oil and Gas Exploration Company

On November 22, 2019, the Texas Securities Commissioner entered an Emergency Cease and Desist Order to stop Texas and Canadian businesses from illegally offering investments in an oil exploration program in Wagoner County, Oklahoma. Today, the agency announces the settlement of its case against the...
Jun 5
2020

Phony Managers and Fake Clients: Order Stops Crypto Fraud Disguised as Legitimate Investment

Texas Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles entered an Emergency Cease and Desist Order against Coinvaultpro, accusing it of illegally and fraudulently offering cryptocurrency mining investments to Texas residents. According to the order, investors can register accounts through Coinvaultpro’s...
Jun 3
2020

Convicted Thief Wants You to Flee the Market, Invest in his Flea Market

Texas Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles entered an Emergency Cease and Desist Order against Paul Leslie Depew and How Bazzar, LLC, to stop their fraudulent sale of investments to fund a flea market in Dallas, Texas. Depew, a DFW resident, is allegedly advertising the interests in How Bazzar on...
May 27
2020

Texas Securities Commissioner Stops White-Collar Criminal's Latest Investment Scheme

Texas Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles entered an Emergency Cease and Desist Order to stop a white-collar criminal from promoting a fraudulent forex and binary options scheme targeting Texas investors. According to the order, Florida resident Stephen Charles Peterson controls Winchester...
May 27
2020

Commissioner Stops Promoter from Taking a Motorcycle Joyride with Investor Money

Texas Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles entered an Emergency Cease and Desist Order to stop David Edward Flake, an entertainer from California, from fraudulently raising money from Texans to produce motorcycle movies. According to the order, Flake is soliciting Texans to invest money he will...
May 27
2020

Conroe Adviser Sanctioned for Not Fully Disclosing Risks in Market-Linked CDs

Texas Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles reprimanded Michael C. De Pippo of Conroe after finding that De Pippo violated his firm’s procedures by failing to fully inform clients about the risks of certificates of deposit whose returns depend on the performance of certain stocks or market indexes...