On November 18, 2020, police in North Texas charged KEITH TODD ASHLEY with the murder of a client in February of 2020, and allegedly staging the client’s death to look like a suicide to gain control of the client’s finances. Ashley was already under investigation for an alleged Ponzi-scheme.
In a recent article in InvestmentNews, it was reported that the 48 year-old broker, KEITH TODD ASHLEY, was arrested on November 13, 2020, on wire fraud charges stemming from an FBI investigation, by the Carrollton Police Department, north of Dallas, Texas.
During the nine-month investigation, detectives found evidence that KEITH TODD ASHLEY allegedly incapacitated, then murdered 62 year-old, James Seegan, in an attempt to gain control of his finances. According to the investigation, Seegan was found with a fatal gunshot wound to the head by his wife on February 19, 2020. According to the police report there was a typed “suicide” note next to James Seegan.
The police statement said, “Ashley was a friend and financial adviser of Seegan’s who would visit the Seegan home periodically. During the course of the investigation, detectives also identified several other victims of a Ponzi-type scheme Ashley orchestrated.”
According to the FBI, KEITH TODD ASHLEY raised $1.3 million from clients and allegedly used the majority of the money to pay his own personal expenses, including a brewery he operated, casinos, payments on personal credit cards, legal fees, cash withdrawals, mortgage payments, utilities, college tuition and student loan payments.
According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck, KEITH TODD ASHLEY was a registered representative with Parkland Securities in Allen, Texas from February of 2002 until October of 2020. Ashley was discharged from Parkland Securities on October 27, 2020, following the allegations, “The firm has reason to believe that the representative engaged in undisclosed outside business activities and also failed to provide the firm with prior notice of private securities transactions involving his privately held company.”
The FBI stated that KEITH TODD ASHLEY was also the principal of a firm called North Texas Money Management.
According to the federal indictment, Ashley allegedly defrauded investors from the end of 2013 through May of 2020, and raised money from investors that was put in separate bank accounts rather than in the clients’ brokerage accounts. The indictment alleged that he “made false statements, representations, and promises to potential investors, including that the investments would result in guaranteed returns totaling between 3%, 6% to 7% and 8% to 9% per year on their funds, there was no risk to the individual’s initial principal investment, and the funds would be invested through” firms like Parkland Securities in a unit investment trust.
If you were a victim of the alleged Ponzi-scheme by the former Parkland Securities of Allen, Texas, broker KEITH TODD ASHLEY, contact Soreide Law Group and speak to an experienced securities lawyer at no cost regarding the possible recovery of your investment losses through a FINRA arbitration at: 888-760-6552.
Soreide Law Group works on a contingency fee basis, no fee to you if no recovery, and represents our clients nationwide before FINRA.