Attorney Kelly Rogers of Frisco Sentenced to 20 YEARS

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Hackney Publications
        

Frisco attorney Kelly Gordon Rogers, convicted of first-degree felony theft for stealing $1.3 million from investors in fraudulent oil and gas schemes, was sentenced to 20 years in state prison on May 28 and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.

 

The case was prosecuted in Collin County State District Court in cooperation with the Collin County District Attorney. State Securities Board Enforcement Division attorneys Dale Barron, Greta Cantwell, and Travis Iles were appointed special prosecutors. Financial Examiner Rani Sabban testified as an expert witness.

 

Rogers, 55, stole money from investors who purchased royalty interests in oil and gas drilling projects that, in at least two cases, turned out not to exist. The victims included an Oklahoma oil and gas investor, two partners in a separate Oklahoma investment company, a neighbor in Frisco, and a longtime acquaintance.

 

Rogers used a significant portion of the money from investors to pay for his personal expenses and to try to acquire interests in unrelated projects, such as a coal mine in West Virginia.

 

Rogers shuffled investor funds to try to keep his scam afloat. When one investor demanded a refund of the unused portion of the money he had invested, the bank account of Rogers’ company, Land and Minerals, was virtually empty. As soon as two other investors wired money to Land and Minerals, however, Rogers diverted most of their funds to meet the demands of the investor.

 

Rogers has faced other allegations of fraud over the past decade.

 

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2007 filed a civil injunction against a group of financial companies and promoters, Rogers among them, who were offering fraudulent high-yield securities offerings. Rogers consented to a final judgment and was ordered to pay disgorgement of $100,000 and a $50,000 civil penalty.

 

According to the State Bar of Texas, Rogers was licensed to practice law in 1986 and lists ”oil and gas” as his only area of practice.

 

ABOUT THE TEXAS SECURITIES BOARD

The State Securities Board registers securities offered or sold in Texas; oversees the firms and individuals selling securities or providing investment advice; enforces the Securities Act through criminal, civil and administrative actions; and provides investor education presentations and material.

Attorney Kelly Gordon Rogers Indicted for Stealing $3.0 Million from Investors

The Kelly G Rogers Report

Law360, New York (May 14, 2012, 9:50 PM ET) -- A Dallas-area attorney has been indicted for allegedly stealing $2.8 million from investors in his oil and gas scheme and for failing to tell them he had been the target of suits accusing him of federal and state securities violations.

In a grand jury indictment filed May 1 in state court, Kelly Gordon Rogers, of Frisco, Texas, is charged with theft, money laundering and securities fraud in connection with the investment shares in Falcon Energy LLC he sold to investors between August 2007 and October 2011.

Kelly G Rogers used the funds — which include a $950,000 investment from Oklahoma City-based oil land leasing company Basin Management Group Inc. — for other purposes and disposed of the money “in a manner that made recovery of said property by said owners unlikely,” according to the indictment.

He never told investors that he had been sued in February 2007 in Texas for alleged violations of federal and state securities laws, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty in connection with his sales of investments in a Louisiana oil and gas venture, the indictment says.

Prosecutors say Rogers also failed to disclose that he was one of the defendants named in a July 2007 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission suit against Global Finance & Investments Inc. over a $9.9 million Ponzi scheme that preyed upon over 100 investors nationwide.

Kelly G Rogers was one of the alleged facilitators of Global Finance company head Charles Davis, according to the SEC. According to the suit, he created similar investment offerings and passed funds on to Davis.

Kelly G Rogers also solicited investors through Level Par Investments LLC, claiming to do trade in bank debentures, the government alleged.

Shortly after the suit was filed, Rogers settled with the SEC by agreeing to disgorgement of $100,000 and a civil penalty of $50,000. He was also enjoined from future violations of federal securities law.

Representatives for prosecutors and for Rogers could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.

Counsel information for Kelly G Rogers was not immediately available.

The case is Texas v. Rogers, case number 380-81033-2012, in the 219th District Court for CollinCounty, Texas.

--Editing by Elizabeth Bowen.