Alberto Alba Villarreal was sentenced in Cameron County State District Court (Texas) to five years in prison having previously been convicted of theft of property. Villarreal stole money that was supposed to be used to fund a new insurance company. He was also ordered to pay full restitution to an investor who purchased a $1 million investment contract in Nafta Holdings LLC and sentenced to ten years probation for securities fraud.

Villarreal is believed to have used investor money to pay his personal expenses, including back-due mortgage payments and payments on a yacht. He also used investor money to pay insurance claims to policy holders in other insurance companies he controlled.

Villarreal also allegedly engaged in a series of financial deceptions to raise money for Nafta Holdings, telling his investor that the Texas Insurance Code required $4 million in capital and surplus cash to start an insurance company. However, when he said that in 2008 that was approximately double the amount required by law.

Villarreal represented to the investor he had raised half of the $4 million needed and any funds from the investor would be placed in escrow until the threshold was reached. Villarreal further told the investor that he already had a $2 million certificate of deposit which would constitute his half of the investment in the new insurance company. What he failed to disclose to the investor, however, was that the CD contained proceeds of a loan he had taken out and that the CD was already 100% pledged to First National Bank.

If you or someone you know has lost money as a result of an investment or Ponzi scheme, please contact Richard Frankowski at 888-741-7503 to discuss your potential legal remedies or complete the contact form.