SEC bars Texas adviser for cheating more than 40 investors

The Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday it had barred an investment adviser it had earlier charged with lying to dozens of investors in connection with a multi-million-dollar offering fraud. The adviser, Thomas J. Caufield, 59, was the owner of a Texas-based investment education franchise. The SEC filed its complaint against Mr. Caufield, who resides in Colleyville, Texas, on September 17. In it, the SEC alleged that Mr. Caufield convinced more than 40 investors to invest over $6 million in his high-yield promissory notes by promising investors significant returns generated from the revenues of what he claimed was a profitable franchise. Mr. Caufield allegedly used a combination of false pitches and offering materials to lure investors, who included both students of the franchise and clients of DAT Capital Advisors, a former state-registered investment adviser wholly owned and operated by Mr. Caufield, according to the complaint. Mr. Caufield misled investors about the franchise's bleak financial condition, used new investor money to repay earlier investors and falsely claimed that investors' notes were secured by assets, according to the SEC's complaint. Mr. Caufield settled the charges without admitting to or denying the SEC's findings. "I have no comment at this time," Mr. Caufield said on Wednesday when reached by phone.