The costumes accused of financial counseling lubbock of the operational ponzi scheme

Lubbock, Texas (KCBD) -two Lubbock Financial counselors are accused in civil processes of speaking to their investors in a ponzi scheme that cost them millions.

Our KCBD Investigăs team has achieved two classroom action processes, initially registered against Joshua Allen, Michael Cox, their Ferrum Capital company and its entities, their Affiliate in San Antonio, Brooklynn Chandler Willy and others. Since then, Cox has submitted for bankruptcy.

I confirmed by an uncertain indictment that, in November 2023, the Federal Investigation Bureau and the Criminal Division of the Internal Income Service started a criminal investigation on a fraud scheme focused in San Antonio and Lubbock.

This investigation remains in progress.

According to the judicial documents, the FBI agents questioned the financial counselor Brooklynn Willy as part of the investigation. Willy is an affiliate of Lubbock’s Ferrum’s capital and its owners, Joshua Allen and Michael Cox.

Willy’s answers have led to 14 federal accusations, including wire fraud, fraud with securities and aggravated identity thefts.

According to Brooklynn Chakler Willy’s indictment, his companies have provided assets and financial planning services.

Shari Pulman is one of the lawyers who represent the over 70 plaintiffs in this class action. Pulman says some of her customers in San Antonio have seen Willy’s commercials through weekly television and radio programs.

“I started it every Sunday and I was following it. The investor public had no protection, because what would someone know what really happens? Pulman said.

According to Willy’s indictment, around May 2021, he encouraged a married couple to invest $ 500,000 in a lubbock company. The indictment claims that instead of investing the money, Willy used it to make credit card payments, to write checks for itself, to pay for other investors and to make payments to another business.

This indictment also mentions another couple that would have given Willy more than $ 2 million to invest. This indictment accuses Willy of using this money to pay associations and other investors and to make “interest” payments.

The indictment mentions two other Texas residents, who would have given Willy hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest, without knowing that Willy used the money for her benefit.

Willy court storage states provided false loan agreements with false clients in response to a federal citation of the jury and federal agents during an interview in November 2024. This led to the 14 charges.

This indictment does not call the Lubbock company. But a class action process claims that, in January 2018, Willy and his companies entered a business agreement with Ferrum Capital in Lubbock, owned by Michael Cox and Joshua Allen.

This process claims that Willy and others have recommended not registered titles to their customers and received an eight percent commission for any amount that each investor has borrowed.

The process claims that these commissions are in direct violation of Ferrum Terms and Conditions and that Willy and others have made no effort to reveal that the commissions would reduce the main investments of the applicant.

The KCBD Investigated team checked the records of the Securities State Securities Securities Board and confirmed that, in 2019, Willy was ceased from JW Cole for “violation of firm policies on participation in non -approved private securities”.

According to TSSB, Willy then tried to register for the Commissioner for Securities as a representative of the investment counselor and investment counselor.

TSSB claims that Willy has never revealed that he was employed in the sale of alternative investment and was never registered as a dealer or agent of a dealer in the securities commissioners. Also, TSSB found that it did not carry out a reasonable diligence level to determine if the alternative investments were suitable for customers before making their recommendations.

Willy’s registration with the Securities Commissioner was suspended for a year, and she agreed to pay more than $ 2 million, which she collected in the commission for her customers. But Pulman and the Byron Leflore prosecutor colleague claim that most of these refund checks sent to their investors have never been collected.

According to the trial, Willy sent a brochure to at least some of her customers with a quote, “the bright discussion about her trials and troubles and a copy of the TSSB order. He also included a document already signed by the client who gave up the commission’s reimbursement, and then a live check for the reimbursement amount as the last three pages of each package. “

The process claims that the brochure was designed to be misleading, because it buried the reimbursement check and failed to give a complete and clear explanation for the reason it was sent.

“Most of her customers … I mean, don’t read everything you get from your investment counselor,” Pulman said.

The process claims that, despite being sanctioned by the Securities Commission in Texas, Willy has continued to advise their customers to pass their alternative investments in Ferrum.

“You say that it is disappointing that the Securities Council in Texas State has sanctioned her, fined her, and took off the license, but did not see that it stops,” Leflore said.

This process claims, based on the recommendations of Willy, Cox, Allen and others, over $ 83 million came from investors and/or custody IRA or trusts to Ferrum entities.

I left a message for Willy’s criminal defense lawyer, but I didn’t hear back.

The lawyer who represented it in at least one of the trials has been withdrawn since then, but he has filed a response to the class action, who said Willy denies all the accusations.

The answer continues to state that any recovery against Willy and his company should be prevented or reduced by the percentage of responsibility of the plaintiffs, other defendants, the settlement of persons and third parties.

So what happened to the investors’ money after Ferrum Capital from Lubbock received it?

KCBD continues to investigate confidence test on Thursday, March 6, at 10:00 pm