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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Receiver Says Oil-Scam Brokers Won’t Quit

DALLAS (CN) - Two brokers are still soliciting clients for a Star Exploration oil, gas and gold scam from which they have already made $1.2 million, the company's receiver claims in Federal Court.

An underlying lawsuit says James Gurgainers began the Star Exploration scam in late 2005.

"As part of this program, Gurgainers set up several entities to be used as tools for illegally soliciting and using investor monies, which entities included Star Georgetown I Joint Venture, Star Mineral Royalty 1-A, LP, Star Mineral Royalty 1-B, LP, Star Discovery, LP, Star Hamilton 2 Joint Venture, Lagniappe Oil & Gas Leases, LLC, Star Exploration Leasing, LLC, Discovery Drilling, LLC, Discovery Rigs, LLC, Terra Ferma Operating, LLC, Star Financial International, LLP, 1 AP.Com, Inc., and Zeroday Technologies, Inc. ... Gurgainers, by and through his brokers, induced more than a hundred investors to invest in the Star oil and gas program and/or the Zeroday gold venture ... by promising them high returns, when in reality much of the money received from the investors was used by Gurgainers and the Receivership Entities for personal and unauthorized uses, including commingling funds between drilling activities," according to the receiver's complaint.

The receiver says the "scheme" is "ongoing."

The complaint states: "Each of the Broker Defendants disseminated such false information either with knowledge of the information's falsity, severe recklessness or disregard for the obvious danger that the information was false and misleading, and in failing to exercise ordinary care in evaluating whether any of the statements used to induce investments were truthful. Accordingly, such information was disseminated by each of the Broker Defendants with the specific intent and desired result of defrauding the investors."

The receiver seeks disgorgement, interests and costs.

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