SEC Charges Texas Companies and Individuals in $11.7 Million Oil and Gas Offering Fraud
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged three Plano, Texas-based oil and gas companies and their principals, along with an accountant and compliance coordinator, for their roles in operating an $11.7 million oil and gas offering fraud.
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged three Plano, Texas-based oil and gas companies and their principals, along with an accountant and compliance coordinator, for their roles in operating an $11.7 million offering fraud for oil drilling and operations projects allegedly located in Kentucky.
The SEC alleges that AmeraTex Energy Inc., Lewis Oil Corp., Lewis Oil Company, Thomas Lewis (the CEO of all three entities), and former AmeraTex president William Fort sold unregistered securities and made numerous misleading statements to more than 150 investors concerning the use of investor proceeds, including false information about prospect wells, false statements about sales commissions, and false guarantees regarding the comingling and loaning of funds.
To conceal the growing number of investor and employee complaints that appeared online, the SEC further alleges that Lewis and Fort used services to suppress Internet search results that would otherwise have cautioned potential investors about the nature of the fraudulent offering. This scheme enabled Lewis to misappropriate more than $1 million.
The SEC also alleges that accountant Damon Fox and compliance coordinator Brian Bull played key roles in the scheme by adding legitimacy and credibility to the operations.
Fox misleadingly categorized entries in the companies’ books and records and sent investors false K-1 tax statements, the SEC alleges. Bull reviewed many of the misrepresentations to investors, enabled the solicitation and acceptance of non-accredited investors, and filed false registration forms with the SEC.
The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest, and civil monetary penalties against all defendants.
