Businessman, 75, accused of bilking investors of $5M

An elderly Houston businessman with a past theft conviction was arrested Tuesday after being indicted in federal court on allegations that he had orchestrated a wire and mail fraud scheme that bilked more than 50 people out of $5 million, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office.

Allan George Cooper, 75, appeared Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances H. Stacy, who set bond at $50,000.

A federal grand jury last week handed up a 10-count indictment against Cooper. The news release says the AG Cooper & Associates executive was charged with four counts of wire fraud and six counts of mail fraud.

This was not Cooper’s first brush with the law.

In April 1985, Cooper, who had been living in Kingwood and serving as president of the Tax Utilization Planning Corporation and Kingwood Financial Group Inc., was convicted and sentenced by Harris County District Judge Ted Poe to 20 years in state prison for a 1984 theft case. Evidence presented by prosecutors in that case indicated that between June 1979 and July 1983, Cooper raised $12.5 million from about 200 investors in a fraud scheme.

Prior to his criminal prosecution in September 1984, the Securities and Exchange Commission cited Cooper, then a defendant in a civil matter against the SEC, after a federal court issued a permanent injunction barring him from the registration and anti-fraud security provisions of securities laws.

The 2016 indictment alleges that Cooper’s most recent alleged scheme began in 2006. He was charged with defrauding more than 50 investors who bought in to his low-risk, high-return construction loans, gaming schemes and mortgagebacked promissory notes.

Investigators from the FBI and the Texas State Securities Board believe Cooper issued quarterly statements to investors, indicating their funds were earning more than 11 percent in legitimate investments.

The indictment accuses Cooper of appropriating the money for personal use.

Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 per count.