Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles filed an
emergency cease and desist order
that accused Adrian Lamont Gunn, a resident of Lubbock, from
perpetrating an illegal securities scheme. According to the order, Gunn
is a convicted white-collar criminal. Before perpetrating his recent
scheme, Gunn allegedly pleaded guilty to identity theft and fraud in
connection with the use of access devices. In 2013, a federal court
sentenced him to serve 61 months in federal prison followed by four
years of supervised release. His term of supervised release ended
earlier this year.
The order alleges Gunn and Whisky Sky, an
affiliated party, were offering investments tied to a nightclub in
Houston, Texas. According to the order, the investments cost as much as
$100,000 and purportedly afforded investors the right to receive half of
the nightclub’s profits. The parties allegedly claimed to own the
nightclub and Gunn provided investors with forged documents falsely
documenting their purchase of the nightclub. In other words, the order
alleges Gunn was about to defraud Texans by selling something he simply
does not own.
The order also accused Gunn of offering investments
purportedly issued by a California entertainment company that planned
to promote a music festival in Texas. These investments allegedly cost
$50,000 and entitled investors profits derived from ticket sales, which
Gunn claimed would be more than $100,000. According to the order,
however, Gunn had no affiliation with the entertainment company—his
claims were simply false and he was not, in fact, partnering with it to
promote a music festival.
Also, Gunn has not been registered to
offer or sell securities in Texas and the securities were not registered
or permitted for sale in Texas.
The order directs Gunn to
immediately cease and desist his illegal and fraudulent offer of
investments to Texans. He was 30 days to challenge the order.