SEC Sues Tony Morrison and Texas Securities Partners

On September 15, 2009, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission) filed a civil action against Tony E. Morrison and Texas Securities Partners LLC (TSP). In its complaint, the Commission alleges that from January 2005 through June 2008, TSP, at Morrison's direction, sold fractional interests in oil and gas offerings. According to the complaint, TSP raised $12.7 million from over 500 investors nationwide by making material misrepresentations regarding past performance, expected returns, and risk. More specifically, the complaint alleges that TSP representatives told investors: (i) a previous offering provided a $30 million return to investors; (ii) the investment would pay out 80% to 120% cash-on-cash return in the first year; (iii) no project had resulted in a dry hole; and (iv) the investment was a "sure thing." The complaint further alleges that contrary to these statements, none of TSP's offerings returned investor principal or profit and three of the wells resulted in dry holes. In addition, the complaint alleges that TSP's offerings were not registered with the Commission and were not otherwise exempt from registration.