Sunday, September 7, 2014

Lawsuit filed to Disbar Attorney Kelly G Rogers

Convicted Oil, Gas Investment Fraudster Faces Disbarment by Kelly Knaub @ Law360

Law360, New York (September 04, 2014, 7:27 PM ET) -- The Texas Bar has filed suit to disbar an attorney serving a 20-year prison sentence for stealing $1.3 million from investors in fraudulent oil and gas schemes and hiding his track record of violating securities laws.

According to the Aug. 29 suit, the Commission for Lawyer Discipline says that Kelly Gordon Rogers should have his law license revoked pursuant to Rule 8.05 of the Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure. A Collin County jury sentenced him to the prison term and a $10,000 fine in May, days after it found him guilty of a single count of theft for selling to investors royalty interests in bogus oil and gas drilling projects.

Collin County prosecutors began their pursuit of Rogers in 2009, after he was indicted on a felony charge of misappropriation of fiduciary property, court records indicate. As that case developed, Rogers was hit with six more felony charges in mid-2012 including theft, money laundering and securities fraud in connection with the investment scam. Prosecutors estimated at the time that Rogers had stolen in excess of $2.8 million from his victims.

Prosecutors say that rather than investing his clients’ money, Rogers used the funds, including $950,000 belonging to Oklahoma City-based oil land leasing company Basin Management Group Inc., for personal expenses and to acquire interests in unrelated projects, such as a coal mine in West Virginia.

To keep investors in the dark, Rogers ran a Ponzi-like scheme, using new investor funds to pay off older investors who wanted to cash out, prosecutors claim.

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

He 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, authorities say.

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

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.

Mitchell R. Nolte, who represented Gordon in the Collin County case, told Law360 this week that he is not representing Rogers in this case.

Nolte said a plea bargain was struck about three weeks after the trial, with the state agreeing to drop the other six pending charges, five of which were first-degree felonies, in exchange for Rogers' dropping the appeal of the trial conviction.

Nolte said that it wasn’t easy to waive appeal because they felt they had some very valid points of error but that it was too good of a deal to pass up.

A spokeswoman for the Texas Bar declined to comment.

The State Bar of Texas is represented by Chief Disciplinary Counsel Linda A. Acevedo and Assistant Disciplinary Counsel Rebecca B. Stevens.

Counsel information for Rogers was not immediately available.

The case is In the Matter of Kelly G. Rogers, case number 54882, before the Board of Disciplinary Appeals, appointed by the Supreme Court of Texas.

--Additional reporting by Jeremy Heallen. Editing by Patricia K. Cole.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

That should be a slam dunk lawsuit to disbar Rogers.

Nolte said he had valid points of error? He didn't bring any up in court, I don't think they even put on a defense. Plus, I heard him talking with the state lawyers afterwards, and he admitted the documentation was so overwhelming and solid that there was essentially no defense. What a joke, but at least he got some billable hours at Rogers' expense. LOL

Anonymous said...

LOL. So true. On another note, I contacted AVVO today and faxed the lawsuit to Josh King, Vice President, Business Development & General Counsel (and bottle washer). This guys as delusional as Nolte. From Mr. King;

"Rogers hasn’t been sanctioned. When and if he is, we will be happy to update his profile post-haste".

WTF. IF? The guys in prison. IF? What a pussy this guy must be.

Anonymous said...

But he uses crafty words like "post haste". Idiot

Anonymous said...


Its good to know his licence may be cancelled. On another note back in June the below message was posted. Does anyone know what is going on with any "others" supposedly involved with Rogers in other illegal business deals? An oil investment deal was mentioned somewhere else. Is the SEC still investigating any related scams? If so why does the SEC wait so long to "drop the hammer"?


June 12, 2014 at 8:14 PM

Anonymous said...
Judgment day will be coming for a few others. Possibly Carrie if Rogers chooses not to plea bargain. Also, the rumor mill has identified a few others who'll be getting the hammer dropped on them too. So this is not over.

Anonymous said...

Assume that Carrie Rogers is off the hook at this point. If I were a betting man, I'd say she's out of the cross hairs.

However, Richard Weyand is not. Rumors are floating around that the IRS and FBI are investigating his money raising activities and other activities. Many expect an indictment.

But this is the rumor mill and we will all need to wait until something happens to learn the details. And it could take many months to play out. Who really knows, right?

Anonymous said...

Didn’t know if you were aware, but Richard Weyand was recently Charged with Making and Subscribing False Tax Return in USA v. RICHARD WEYAND, No. 4:14CR 58 (E.D. Tex. 2014).
He is currently awaiting a date from the Court in that case for his Sentencing Hearing (U.S. District Judge Richard A Schell).

Anonymous said...

Can anyone come up with USA v. RICHARD WEYAND, No. 4:14CR 58? Is there an online link we can find?

Anonymous said...

All Federal Criminal Case information for Mr. Richard Weyand is available to anyone via PACER.

Anonymous said...

If you have any information bearing upon Mr. Weyand's character, good or bad, you can forward it for inclusion with the pre-sentencing report to:

Mike Thomas
Sr. U.S. Probation Officer
211 W. Ferguson St., Suite 224
Tyler, TX 75702-7222
Office: 903-590-1135
mike_k_thomas@txep.uscourts.gov

Be sure to reference the case number.
Rumor suggests Mr. Weyand has a "deal" for probation so that he won't serve time. He has a very expensive defense attorney, despite his recent bankruptcy.

Steven Phillips said...

Do you have any information on the connection between Kelly Rogers and Don Ross Nabb? I am trying to get the Dallas District Attorney to indict Don Ross Nabb on elder abuse (stealing from an 83 year-old friend) and running a Ponzi scheme for 10-15 years that this woman and others "invested" in. One of my friends said Don Ross Nabb was connected to the Global Finance "money tree". Any help would be greatly appreciated. You can contact me at (407)340-3975. Steven Phillips