Texas Man Pleads Guilty to Running Ponzi Scheme
Posted on November 4th, 2020 at 4:13 PM
From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law LLC:
Patrick O. Howard has pled guilty to running a $13 million "Ponzi-type scheme" in a federal court in Texas. According to prosecutors, Howard convinced more than 100 investors to buy private funds. Prosecutors alleged that Howard overstated the earning capability of the funds, and then misappropriated the money received from investors.
According to an article from Law360, investors were told that the investment would provide a minimum return of 12%, which persuaded many investors to purchase $50,000 membership units. Federal prosecutors alleged that quarterly payments made to investors consisted mostly of Ponzi-type payments, payments made by using funds taken from other investors' contributions.
Prosecutors also alleged that Howard misrepresented that he was a registered investment advisor, lied about his companies' annual earnings, and told investors that they would not suffer any losses.
Howard faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. In March 2017, Howard agreed to settle claims made by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission stemming from this same conduct.
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Tags: eccleston, eccleston law, ponzi scheme, guilty