PLANO, TX—Two Dallas men have been indicted in connection with a $485 million investment fraud scheme in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.
Brendan Coughlin, 46, and Henry Harrison, 47, both of Dallas, have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and 10 counts of mail fraud. The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury on July 11, 2012.
According to the indictment, Coughlin and Harrison, on behalf of Provident Royalties LLC, conspired with others to defraud investors in an oil and gas scheme that involved over $485 million and 7,700 investors throughout the United States. Specifically, beginning in approximately September 2006, Coughlin, Harrison, and other individuals made materially false representations and failed to disclose material facts to their investors in order to induce the investors into providing payments to Provident. Among these false representations were statements that funds invested would be used only for the oil and gas project for which those funds were raised; among the omissions of material fact were the facts that another of Provident founders, Joseph Blimline, had received millions of dollars of unsecured loans; that Blimline had been previously charged with securities fraud violations by the state of Michigan; and that funds from investors in later oil and gas projects were being used to pay individuals who invested in earlier oil and projects.
If convicted, Coughlin and Harrison face up to 20 years in federal prison.
************************************************************************
Report Securities Fraud by Calling 1-888-482-6825 or by visiting
www.reportsecuritiesfraud.net
No comments:
Post a Comment