SEC Halts Misappropriation of Investor Funds by “Frack Master” and his Entities

The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained court-ordered emergency relief halting an ongoing fraud perpetrated by the self-proclaimed “Frack Master” and two others. The court’s order froze the assets of Christopher A. Faulkner, Breitling Energy Corporation (BECC), and Breitling Oil and Gas Corp. (BOG), appointed a temporary receiver over their assets, and preliminarily enjoined them from violating antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws.
 
After filing a complaint on June 24, 2016, charging Faulkner, 11 other defendants, and two relief defendants, for their roles in an alleged $80 million securities fraud scheme, the SEC discovered that Faulkner, BECC, and BOG were continuing to victimize investors by misappropriating oil-and-gas production revenue owed to them. According to the court, the SEC “demonstrated through its extensive filings that Faulkner has already obtained at least $23.8 million of investor proceeds through fraudulent cash disbursements and reimbursements,” and “the fact that Faulkner continued to misappropriate investor assets even after the SEC filed this lawsuit gives the court little confidence that Faulkner’s asset management would improve without supervision."
 
The SEC’s investigation has been conducted by Scott F. Mascianica and Ty Martinez and supervised by Jessica B. Magee and Eric Werner of the Fort Worth Regional Office. B. David Fraser, Timothy S. McCole, and Mr. Mascianica are leading the SEC’s litigation.
 
More information is available here.