Federal prosecutors charge AriseBank CEO in fraud case
Federal authorities have charged the CEO of AriseBank with multiple counts of defrauding investors — including several in Houston — as part a cryptocurrency scheme that used former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield as a spokesman. Authorities say Jared Rice Sr., 30, committed securities fraud by allegedly “duping hundreds of investors” out of $4.25 million — money that he used for personal items.
Prosecutors for the Northern District of Texas say Rice lied to investors by stating that AriseBank, which advertised itself as the “first decentralized banking platform” in the world, had partnerships with Visa credit cards and offered consumers FDIC-insured bank accounts. Authorities say neither was true.
The FBI arrested Rice on Wednesday.
Corporate lawyer moves to new Shearman office
Bill Nelson, a longtime partner and cochair of Haynes and Boone’s capital markets and securities practice in Houston, is joining Shearman & Sterling’s recently opened Houston office.
Nelson handles public offerings, private placements, monetization transactions and cross-border securities offerings.
He represented KMG Chemicals in its acquisition by Cabot Microelectronics Corp. in August for $1.6 billion and Endeavor Energy Resources in its $1 billion notes offerings last year.
Texas Lawbook Weekly Corporate Deal Tracker
Business lawyers in Texas didn’t take off much time for Thanksgiving.
New Texas Lawbook data shows that 107 corporate M&A attorneys from 11 different law firms worked on 14 mergers, acquisitions and securities offerings that were announced the week ending Nov. 25.
Those combined transactions were valued at $4.5 billion. By comparison, there were seven M&A deals last year during Thanksgiving week.
The Texas Lawbook’s Corporate Deal Tracker documents every corporate transaction handled by Texas lawyers.
For details, go to TexasLawbook.net.