Two Lubbock businessmen, Joshua Allen and Mike Cox, have officially upgraded their résumés to include federal indictments. The pair allegedly teamed up with San Antonio advisor Brooklyn Chandler Willy—who’s already racked up a buffet of federal charges—in what prosecutors call a massive Ponzi scheme.
The scam worked the old-fashioned way: promise people “safe investments” and “big returns,” then funnel their money into companies that had about the same chance of paying out as a scratch-off ticket. Victims say they lost retirement savings, with one describing the fallout as “catastrophic.” Translation: she’ll be working until the grave while Allen and Cox were busy tanking Ferrum Capitol into bankruptcy.
Nearly 400 people across Lubbock and San Antonio could end up losing a staggering $59 million. That’s a whole lot of money to vanish in the name of “business as usual.” But don’t worry—these guys are only facing conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, and securities fraud. You know, just the greatest hits of white-collar crime.
Safe investments? Sure—if by “safe” you mean safely deposited into someone else’s pockets.
