SEC charges Texas oil operators with fraud, alleging investor cash used for booze, strippers
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged three oil and gas companies and its executives with fraudulently scheming to raise $11.7 million for drilling projects allegedly located in Kentucky and using investor money for booze, drugs and strippers.
In a federal complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Sherman, lawyers with the SEC's Fort Worth office say that AmeraTex Energy and Lewis Oil Company, which are based in North Dallas, and Lewis Oil Corp., which is headquartered in Albany, KY., perpetrated a fraud to sell unregistered securities to more than 150 investors in 36 states, made false statements to investors and diverted money raised for personal pleasures.
SEC lawyers say several defrauded investors live in the Houston area. The companies could not immediately be reached for comment.
To read more, go to texaslawbook.net.
https://www.lmtonline.com/business/energy/article/SEC-Charges-Texas-Oil-Operators-with-Fraud-Execs-12717345.php