A Dallas man, Dennis James Rogers, II, 35, formerly of Las Cruces, NM, pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of defrauding investors out of more than $27 million through oil and gas and water rights scams, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Leigha Simonton.
Rogers faced charges via felony information and admitted guilt to two counts of securities fraud. According to plea papers, in August 2019, Rogers successfully solicited $10 million from an investor identified in court documents as J.I., purportedly to purchase fuel for his company, Oregon Mountain Trading Company. Instead of purchasing fuel, Rogers diverted the funds to a private jet service, a custom home builder, a law firm, an investment account, business entities, credit card companies, and other personal expenditures.
Ten months later, Rogers solicited $4.1 million and $2.1 million from investors S.W. and D.W., respectively. He told the investors that a large international fuel company was exiting its stock position in Brownsville, Texas, and planned to dispose of its fuel via an exclusive, invitation-only auction. “In reality, the company never held an auction and had no relationship with Mr. Rogers,” the plea papers state. Instead of purchasing fuel at auction, Rogers diverted the money to fund an unrelated investment account, purchase real estate, and pay personal expenses.
Rogers also collected $11 million for a purported water rights deal associated with a dairy farm in New Mexico. He held a call with an investor and an alleged member of the dairy farmer family and claimed he had an account worth $5 million that could be used as collateral. “In reality, Rogers never had a relationship with the dairy farmer, the account had no collateral value, and there was never a contract for water rights,” the documents indicate.
U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton stated, “This defendant lined his own pockets at the expense of would-be investors, lying and cheating his way to a life of luxury. Today’s plea is a step towards justice for his victims.”
Dallas FBI Special Agent in Charge Chad Yarbrough added, “Investment and securities scams result in high volumes of complaints and high loss amounts to victims, and also undermine the integrity of our financial markets at-large. The FBI is committed to investigating criminal activity that is designed to defraud unsuspecting individuals and will continue to dedicate substantial resources to investigating ever-evolving fraud schemes like those perpetrated by the defendant.”
Rogers now faces up to ten years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is set for December 18, 2024, before U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Dallas Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcus Busch is prosecuting the case.
