TIKI ISLAND, Texas Federal court prosecutors have released new details outlining allegations against a former Tiki Island resident and nine accomplices accused in a multimillion fraudulent stock sale scheme.
Harris Dempsey Butch Ballow, 67, was arrested July 13 by Mexican federal police at his residence in a luxury golf resort in Puerto Vallarta.
Ballow remains jailed awaiting extradition to the United States to face charges arising from an alleged seven-year, fraudulent stock sale scheme, the U.S. attorney s office said in a statement.
Ballow and his wife, Robin Harless Ballow, 56; along with Ruben Garza Perez, 50, formerly of Houston; Kelly Lyn Boothe, 44, of Houston; and Jeffrey Janssen Anuth, 52, of Cancun, Mexico, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to an Oct. 26 indictment.
Authorities allege the defendants sold shares of stock in public companies acquired and controlled by Ballow while he was a fugitive.
An indictment isn t a guilty verdict. It means a grand jury heard enough evidence to send the case to trial.
Hiding His Identity
The first indictment alleges the defendants sold stock to unsuspecting investors by hiding Ballow s true name.
That indictment also accuses the defendants of reporting false information to increase and maintain stocks value and of failing to remove restrictions that prevented investors from selling the stock and land ownership interests in a real estate development that never materialized.
Five others named in a second but related Oct. 26 indictment also are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, stemming from the same alleged stock sale scheme.
Patrick Lanier, 62, an Austin attorney, is listed among them. He represented Ballow during a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proceedings in 2004 and was his attorney during a criminal case that led to Ballow becoming a fugitive, the statement said.
Lanier served as a lawyer for a Ballow-controlled corporation, according to the indictment.
Ballow was indicted in federal court in 2003 on accusations of fraud and money laundering. He pleaded guilty to money laundering that year and while released on $100,000 bond he agreed to cooperate with an SEC investigation, the statement said.
Fled The Country
Facing 10 years in prison, Ballow skipped his sentencing hearing and fled the country. A warrant was issued for his arrest Dec. 17, 2004, the statement said.
Ballow lived under aliases John Gel, Tom Brown and Marty Twinley while on the lam. He also had a British passport by the name Melvyn John Gelsthorpe, the statement said.
According to a superseding indictment, Ballow used the names to control four publicly traded companies: E-SOL International; Medra; Deep Earth Resources; and Aztec Technology Partners, which is known as Ultimate Lifestyles.
The indictment also accuses Ballow of selling stock to investors without revealing his identity, his past convictions for fraud and money laundering and his status as a fugitive, the statement says.
Wife Traveled With Ballow
Robin Ballow accompanied her husband while he was a fugitive and concealed his identity from investors and law enforcement, the indictment alleges.
Perez is accused of following Ballow across Central America and Mexico and of managing Ballow s finances, the statement said.
Anuth, who in 2007 was an officer of two Ballow-controlled companies, learned Ballow was wanted by the FBI in 2008. Anuth continued to work for Ballow about two years and is accused of hiding Ballow s true name from investors, the statement said.
Boothe, in 2005, became the president of a Ballow-controlled company, according to the statement. The indictment accused Boothe of associating with Ballow for five years, while Ballow lived under different names.
$5M Wire Transfer
Ballow moved to Puerto Aventuras, Mexico, in 2008 but disappeared in July 2009, days after convincing an investor to wire transfer $5 million to E-SOL, the indictment states.
Ballow reappeared in October 2009 in Puerto Vallarta where he was arrested this year.
Warrants remain outstanding for the arrests of Ballow s wife, Perez, Anuth and Boothe, the statement said.
A conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge carries maximum penalties of 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.
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