Jackson Jambalaya

 Former Baker Boy and Lamar Adams crony Brent Alexander is barred from working in the securities industry.  The former Baker Donelson lobbyist pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in the Lamar Adams Ponzi scheme. 

Alexander was a former employee at prestigious law firm Baker Donelson.  Alexander and Baker partner Jon Seawright sold phony timber securities for Lamar Adams.* Adams is serving a twenty year prison sentence for operating a $160 million Ponzi scheme that sold phony timber investments to unsuspecting investors. 

Alexander was a lobbyist and member of Baker's public policy group. JJ reported on May 4, 2018: 

The two men formed several companies that had several names. The Secretary of State's website states that they operated no less than eight companies.  Several of them just happened to be listed as a "timber fund."  

 Alexander Seawright Petroenergy, Alexander Seawright Oklahoma Oil Services Fund, and Alexander Seawright Timber Fund I  states their address is 4268 I-55N in Jackson - the same address as Baker Donelson when the companies were formed.  Seawright used Baker Donelson stationary to submit the corporate registration to the Secretary of State. The registration for the other companies state their address is the same as the home address of either Alexander or Seawright.

Alexander pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.  U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves sentenced him to serve five years of probation.  He must serve two years of the sentence under house arrest.  

Alexander offered to surrender his securities license to the SEC.  The SEC accepted and decreed: 

In anticipation of the institution of these proceedings, Respondent has submitted an Offer of Settlement (the “Offer”) which the Commission has determined to accept....

The count of the criminal information to which Respondent pled guilty alleged, inter alia, that Respondent defrauded investors and obtained money and property by means of materially false statements and that he used the United States mails to make such statements. In connection with that plea, Respondent admitted that he knowingly solicited investors to invest in the Timber Fund through materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises. Respondent, while being associated with an investment adviser, falsely promised that each property location, promissory note, timber contract, and timber deed would be vetted by him or others. In persuading investors to maintain their investments and to invest additional funds, Respondent told investors that he would profit only if the investments performed as promised, failing to disclose that he received payments for recruiting investments to the scheme and received a predetermined percentage of investors’ funds from the timber broker for each recruited investor. Respondent admitted that he knowingly transmitted or caused to be transmitted by means of wire or radio communications in interstate commerce, any writing, signals or sounds for the purpose of executing the scheme in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.

Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED pursuant to Section 203(f) of the Advisers Act that Respondent be, and hereby is, barred from association with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer, municipal advisor, transfer agent, or nationally recognized statistical rating organization.

So ends the tale of Brent Alexander.

*JJ reported on November 2: 

The Baker Boyz didn't inspect any properties related to the investments nor did they verify the timber deeds were indeed valid.  In short, all they cared about was cashing checks, investments be damned.  They also misled investors on their compensation for promoting the investments.  An April Justice Department press release spells out what took place: 

Alexander admitted that between 2011 and 2018, he and a co-conspirator participated in a scheme to defraud investors by soliciting millions of dollars under false pretenses and failing to use investor funds as promised. Alexander and his co-conspirator represented to investors that they were in the business of loaning funds to a “timber broker” to buy timber rights from landowners and then to sell the timber rights to lumber mills at a higher price. Alexander and his co-conspirator promised investors a return of 10% or more over twelve or thirteen months on each unit of invested capital. Alexander and his co-conspirator  represented to their investors and led their investors to believe that Alexander and his co-conspirator were inspecting each tract of land and were vetting each document, deed, and contract in support of their investments. These promises and representations were material in that they were intended to cause investors to believe that their investments were secured by valid assets and to believe that the financial incentives and interests of Alexander and his co-conspirator aligned with those of the investors. In fact, Alexander and his co-conspirator failed to inspect each property related to the timber rights underlying each investment, and they failed to verify each executed lumber mill agreement related to each investment. Alexander and his co-conspirator made few or no such inquiries, and if Alexander and his co-conspirator had made such inquiries, they would have discovered that the timber deeds, lumber mill agreements, and related documents had been falsified and were not valid.

Alexander and his co-conspirator also represented to their investors that Alexander and his co-conspirator would only profit from each series of the investment if it performed as promised to the investors. This gave the investors the misleading impression that their interests were fully aligned with those of Alexander and his co-conspirator. In fact, in addition to receiving a predetermined percentage of return on the investors’ funds, Alexander and his co-conspirator also received undisclosed payments of approximately 3% for recruiting investments to the timber investment scheme immediately upon transferring the investment funds to the purported timber broker. Alexander and his co-conspirator did not disclose to the investors: (a) the fact of these payments, or (b) the amount of the payments in relation to the investments made, or (c) the timing of the undisclosed payments to Alexander and his co-conspirator before any repayment was made to the investors.

 Alexander and Seawright have not been associated with Baker Donelson for nearly three years.