Crime & Safety

FBI Adds Details to Investment Fraud Allegations

Mail and wire fraud, money laundering are charges against Lighthorse Ventures of Walnut Creek; owner Stephen Lopez of Lafayette has pleaded not guilty.

An FBI news release adds particulars to the federal indictment alleging a pattern of fraud by Lighthorse Ventures LLC of Walnut Creek.

Lighthorse  — with an office at 1600 S. Main St., Walnut Creek — gave potential investors brochures that "falsely represented Lighthorse's ownership interests in companies, real properties, and oil wells and overvalued and misrepresented the entities owned by Lighthorse," the FBI reported.

Lighthorse was owned by Stephen B. Lopez, 57, of Lafayette, who was arrested on March 28 on mail fraud, wire fraud and money-laundering charges. Before a federal magistrate in San Francisco, Lopez entered a plea of not guilty and was released on a $100,000 bond.

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The FBI said there was no disclosure that Lighthorse owed a final payment of $600,000 to Lonestar Trust of Texas as a result of a civil settlement between Lopez and former clients.

The FBI alleges that Lighthorse failed to disclose to prospective lenders that Lopez was going to use money to pay a personal debt of $600,000 owed to clients and make a $50,000 payment to a consultant. The indictment is attached to this article.

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The investigation was by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service, according to the news release.


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