FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts
[email protected]
410-576-7009
BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today announced that his office’s Securities Division has issued Final Orders against North Texas Energy, Inc. (NTE), a Texas-based oil and gas company, and its founder and president, Kevin LaMonte Jones, ordering them to cease and desist from further violations of the registration and antifraud provisions of the Maryland Securities Act and a 2023 Final Order barring them from the securities and investment advisory business in Maryland. The orders also impose a $900,000 civil penalty against NTE and Jones.
“Marylanders deserve honesty and transparency before they trust a company with their hard-earned money,” said Attorney General Brown. “Our Office will always hold companies accountable when they mislead investors and act like Maryland’s laws do not apply to them.”
In March 2023, following an investigation by the Securities Division, the Securities Commissioner issued a Final Order against NTE and Jones for offering and selling unregistered equity shares in NTE to Maryland investors and failing to tell investors key information about the investment. NTE and Jones raised approximately $2 million from those Maryland investors. The March 2023 Final Order ordered NTE and Jones to cease and desist from offering and selling unregistered securities in Maryland, barred them from the securities and investment advisory business in Maryland, and imposed a civil penalty of $1.85 million. The Division later learned that NTE and Jones blatantly disregarded the March 2023 Final Order by continuing to offer and sell unregistered shares in NTE to Maryland investors, raising at least an additional $350,000. NTE and Jones misled potential investors by falsely claiming their securities offerings were not subject to Maryland’s securities laws or the March 2023 Final Order barring them from offering and selling securities in Maryland. NTE also was the subject of an Oklahoma County District Court judgment enjoining NTE from offering or selling securities in or from Oklahoma.
Attorney General Brown reminded investors to call the Securities Division at 410-576-6360 before they invest to find out whether their investment adviser, broker and securities are registered. Even when an investment program looks reasonable, and friends and family trust the promoter, it’s better to take a few minutes to verify the status of the investment and its promoters.
In making today’s announcement, Attorney General Brown thanked Securities Commissioner Melanie Lubin, Assistant Securities Commissioner Kelvin Blake, and Chief Investigator Joshua Schafer for their work on this matter.
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