Ex-Stanford exec gets 3 years in prison for role in $7B Ponzi scheme

  HOUSTON -- Ex-exec for Texas financier Stanford gets 3 years in prison for role in $7B Ponzi scheme.

Former Stanford chief investment officer Laura Pendergest-Holt was sentenced Thursday for her role in helping the once jet-setting businessman bilk investors out of more than $7 billion.

In June, Pendergest-Holt pleaded guilty to obstructing a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proceeding. The plea was part of an agreement with federal prosecutors in exchange for a three-year prison sentence.

Her guilty plea came after Stanford was sentenced to 110 years in prison after his conviction on fraud-related charges for orchestrating one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history.

Two other Stanford executives are set for trial later this month.

(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Three women arrested in suspected prostitution scheme

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- An undercover operation leads to three women being arrested in a suspected prostitution scheme.

Accused madam Heather Rachelle Garrett, of Lufkin, was in court Monday morning to face charges. Police say they were investigating Houston Co-eds escort service and spoke with Garrett. They say she met two undercover officers and then had two other women meet them.

Police say the women offered to have sex for money and Garrett was going to charge a fee for making the arrangements. That's when all three women were arrested.

Garrett, 21, is charged with aggravated promotion of prostitution. Bond is set at $5,000.

Judith Ann Armstrong and Tristan Kaye Durate are also facing charges.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Two accused in elaborate fake check cashing scheme

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Two people are accused in an elaborate counterfeit check cashing scheme at Houston area stores.

Dante Sumlar is the alleged mastermind of the group. Two of his alleged accomplices, Jennifer Lynn Mullinax, 40, and Christopher Antone Hill, 46, are facing charges of engaging in organized criminal activity. According to court documents, Sumlar hired a homeless man in December 2007 to try to purchase gift cards using a $5,000 forged cashier's check at a Walmart in southwest Houston. The clerk became suspicious due to the large dollar amount of the check, and with the help of a bank clerk, found the check to have the routing number from Texas State University. The employees called police. Houston police arrested the homeless man, Steven Maheux, who told investigators that he was picked up at a homeless shelter by a black man named "Tony" and paid $200 to cash the checks. Maheux said another man named "Chris" picked him up, bought him some new clothes at Ross and drove him to the Walmart to cash the check. Maheux said Chris had eight other checks with him at the time. Using surveillance video from Walmart, police identified the owner of the car as Christopher Hill. Court documents state Hill told police that he would drive white males around town to cash checks for a man named "Rick," who Hill also knew as Tony. Hill said he was paid $200 each day he drove and stated that a total of about $40,000 in checks were cashed. Hill told police he knew a woman named Jennifer Mullinax who worked for Rick. Mullinax told police that Rick would pay her cash and crack cocaine to rent vehicles for him. She later told police that she knew Rick's identity from a Harris County arrest. She said she looked through bondsman file pictures and located a file on George Deshane Marshall. She told investigators that she picked up Marshall from jail after the arrest and transported him to the bondsman. Police then discovered that Marshall was an alias for Dante Karyn Sumlar, 34. Sumlar was a fugitive wanted by the US Secret Service in Mobile, Ala. and Jacksonville, Fla. According to court documents, Mullinax told police that Sumlar paid her up to $500 in cash and $300 worth of crack for renting cars for him until December 2007. She said Sumlar also paid her about $2,000 to answer phones in the check scheme. The forged checks had a toll-free verification number printed on them and Mullinax would answer the line when clerks would call to verify the fake checks, court documents state. She said Sumlar gave her instructions on what to say when clerks would call the number and how to act like a legit business. In November 2010, Sumlar was located and arrested. He later plead guilty to all federal charges against him. Court documents state Sumlar said he moved to Houston in February 2007 from Alabama and used aliases Tony and Rick while here. Sumlar told authorities he alone printed all of the counterfeit checks and would make up the routing and account numbers. He also said he targeted such businesses as Walmart, Best Buy, Macy's, Toys R Us and Target, according to court documents. The police investigation revealed 21 counterfeit cashier's checks in the Houston area for a total loss to merchants of $92,500. (Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Man accused of stealing from elderly in Ponzi scheme

Robbie Dale Walker, of Dripping Springs, was arrested Wednesday for theft over $200,000, a first degree felony.

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A man is accused of bilking more than $80,000 from an elderly Houston woman in an alleged Ponzi scheme.

Robbie Dale Walker, of Dripping Springs, was arrested Wednesday for theft over $200,000, a first degree felony. Authorities say the investigation began in early April 2011 after Walker met with the 93-year-old victim. She was reportedly approached by Walker for an investment with RD Walker Resources, Inc., a firm he identified as a gas and oil exploration company. The victim said she had known Walker for some time and trusted him. Authorities say there was ultimately no return on the investment and Walker continued to request additional funds from the victim to assist in "development" and a return on her investment. Details from the investigation led detectives to believe this was a Ponzi scheme. Walker was released from the Hays County Jail after posting a $10,000 bond. If convicted, the punishment ranges from 5 to 99 years and a fine of up to $10,000. Authorities say the possibility exists that there are other victims from the Hays County, Austin and Houston areas involved in this scam through Robbie Walker or his company RD Walker Resources, Inc. who have not yet been identified. If you believe you have been a victim in the manner described, please contact Hays County Sheriffs Office at 512-393-7896 to file a report. (Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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