Dallas Fraud Lawyer: Recovering Losses for Defrauded Investors and Businesses
Mark A. Alexander, P.C. is a Dallas fraud law firm that represents investors and businesses that have lost money to fraud — including oil and gas investment promotions, private placement and securities fraud, Ponzi schemes, and business fraud. The firm handles civil fraud recovery for victims. The firm has represented more than 210 defrauded investors nationwide since 2007, pursuing recovery through Texas fraud, securities, and fiduciary-duty claims. Founding attorney Mark Alexander has practiced law for more than 40 years and holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, that organization’s highest rating for legal ability and ethical standards. Additionally, he is a Life Member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, a distinction held by fewer than 1% of U.S. attorneys. Consultations are available at (972) 544-6968.
What Kinds of Fraud Cases Does the Firm Handle in Dallas?
The firm’s practice centers on fraud that separates investors and businesses from their money:
- Investment fraud — misrepresented ventures, misused funds, and promotions that were never what the offering materials described.
- Oil and gas investment fraud — the firm’s signature practice area: fraudulent drilling programs, oversold working interests, and royalty schemes.
- Securities and private placement fraud — unregistered offerings, unlicensed sellers, and private placements marketed on concealment rather than disclosure.
- Ponzi schemes — investment programs paying earlier investors with later investors’ money.
- Business and commercial fraud — fraud between businesses and business partners, handled alongside the firm’s commercial litigation practice.
Fraud victims whose situation doesn’t fit neatly into a category should call anyway — schemes are designed not to look like what they are.
What Does an Investment Fraud Lawyer Do for Defrauded Investors?
An investment fraud lawyer investigates how an investor’s money was actually used, identifies the legal claims available under Texas law, and pursues recovery from the individuals and companies responsible. In oil and gas cases, that work often includes examining well records, drilling reports, offering documents, and bank records to establish what promoters knew — and what they concealed — when they solicited the investment.
Recovery is not limited to suing the promoter who made the pitch. Depending on the facts, claims may reach company officers, affiliated entities, and others who participated in or benefited from the scheme.
How Do Oil and Gas Investment Scams Typically Work?
Fraudulent oil and gas promotions tend to follow recognizable patterns. Common schemes include:
- Misrepresented reserves or well performance. Promoters overstate what a well or lease is likely to produce, sometimes using fabricated geology reports or production data.
- Ponzi structures. Returns paid to early investors come from new investors’ money rather than from actual oil and gas revenue.
- Undisclosed use of funds. Money raised for drilling or completion is diverted to salaries, commissions, or unrelated ventures.
- Concealed backgrounds. Promoters hide prior regulatory sanctions, criminal histories, or failed ventures from prospective investors.
- High-pressure sales tactics. Investors are pushed to commit quickly, discouraged from consulting a lawyer or financial advisor, and promised returns far above market norms.
Texas is a center of oil and gas activity. Victims are experienced professionals — accountants, business owners — who were shown polished offering materials that concealed the true use of their money.
What Can Defrauded Investors Recover Under Texas Law?
Texas law gives defrauded investors several potential avenues of recovery. Depending on the facts, claims may include common-law fraud, statutory fraud, violations of the Texas Securities Act, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract. Available remedies can include recovery of the amounts invested, exemplary damages where the law allows them, and in some cases attorney’s fees.
Timing matters. Texas limitations periods can bar claims that are filed too late, although the discovery rule may extend the deadline where the fraud was concealed. Investors who suspect they have been defrauded should have the facts reviewed promptly rather than waiting to see whether promised payments resume.
“In nearly two decades of these cases, I’ve learned that the offering documents tell you what investors were promised. The bank records tell you the truth. My job is to close the distance between the two.”
— Mark A. Alexander, Founding Attorney
Why Do Investors Choose Mark A. Alexander, P.C.?
Investors researching Dallas fraud attorneys can weigh several verifiable facts about the firm:
- Mark Alexander has practiced law for more than 40 years and founded the firm’s oil and gas fraud practice in 2007.
- The firm has represented more than 210 investors nationwide in oil and gas fraud matters.
- The firm has won oil and gas fraud cases at the summary judgment stage — including Michael Oldenburg, et al. vs. Rock Wall Oil Company, et al. ($1.3 million) — meaning the cases were prepared thoroughly enough that courts ruled without requiring a trial.
- Martindale-Hubbell has awarded Mr. Alexander its AV Preeminent rating, the organization’s highest rating for legal ability and ethical standards.
- Mr. Alexander is a Life Member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, membership organizations for attorneys who have obtained million- and multi-million-dollar trial results; fewer than 1% of U.S. attorneys are members.
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Every case depends on its own facts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Warning signs include promised returns well above market norms, pressure to invest quickly, resistance to providing well records or accounting, payments that arrive late or stop entirely, and promoters who discourage you from consulting a lawyer or advisor. None of these signs proves fraud by itself — the question is what the promoters actually did with your money and what they knew when they solicited it.
When the firm reviews a potential case, the analysis typically starts with the offering documents and the money trail: what was promised, what was disclosed, and where the funds actually went. That review draws on the firm’s experience representing more than 210 defrauded investors since 2007.
Recovery is possible in many cases, though it depends on identifying defendants who have assets and on acting before limitations periods expire. Claims may reach not only the promoter but also officers, affiliated companies, and others who participated in or benefited from the scheme.
In the firm’s experience, the strength of a recovery effort is usually determined by the quality of the investigation behind it — tracing funds, securing records, and building the case thoroughly enough that courts can rule decisively. The firm has won oil and gas fraud cases at the summary judgment stage on exactly that kind of preparation.
Texas imposes limitations periods on fraud and securities claims, and waiting too long can bar recovery entirely. In some circumstances the discovery rule extends the deadline where the fraud was actively concealed, but that protection has limits.
Because the deadline analysis depends on when the investor knew or should have known of the fraud, the firm encourages investors to have the timeline reviewed promptly. An early review costs nothing and preserves options that delay can eliminate.
No. The firm is based in Dallas and handles matters throughout Texas, but it has represented defrauded investors from across the United States, since oil and gas promotions based in Texas routinely solicit investors nationwide.
Contact Mark A. Alexander, P.C.
We welcome the opportunity to discuss your legal issue.
Mark A. Alexander, P.C.
The Gild
8150 North Central Expressway, 10th Floor
Dallas, Texas 75206
Phone: (972) 544-6968
Fax: (972) 421-1500
Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not send confidential or time-sensitive information through this form.
Attorney Advertising. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.