Recidivist Scammer Blew $8 Million House-Flip Fund!

SEC v. Brady Jack Speers, Chatree Thiranon, GHAP, LLC d/b/a Blue Star Texas — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Litigation Release No. 26324, dated June 12, 2024.

The SEC charged Brady Jack Speers, Chatree Thiranon, and GHAP, LLC (Blue Star Texas) with defrauding nearly $8 million from 40 investors in a house-flipping scheme. They misrepresented the use of funds, security of investments, and Speers's history of securities violations and bankruptcies. Final judgments ordered significant disgorgement, interest, and civil penalties against the defendants.

In Plain English

Imagine you and your friends are pooling money to invest in fixing up and selling houses. The people running the fund told you your money was safe and would be used only for specific houses. But, they actually spent a lot of the money on themselves, didn't always own the houses they said they did, and didn't tell you about one person's past money problems. The government stepped in and made them pay back the money they took unfairly and fined them.

Disclaimer: all facts are drawn from the SEC's own filings; the claims described are allegations unless and until a court rules or the parties settle, and some cases end in dismissal.

How the Alleged Scheme Worked

1. Promised a House-Flipping Investment From April 2017 to December 2022, defendants Brady Jack Speers, Chatree Thiranon, and GHAP, LLC (Blue Star Texas) told investors they would pool money to buy, fix up, and sell houses. They promised investors high interest rates on promissory notes and the return of their principal.
2. Misrepresented Fund Security Investors were assured their funds were secured by property interests in the real estate assets. However, the SEC alleged that Blue Star only secured investor interests in isolated instances and sometimes never even held title to the properties.
3. Used Funds for Personal Expenses Instead of solely investing in properties, defendants allegedly used over $2.9 million of the $8 million raised for personal expenses, cash withdrawals, and wire transfers to personal bank accounts.
4. Rolled Over Funds Without Permission Defendants misrepresented that investor funds would be applied to specific projects. In reality, they rolled over investor funds to new projects without obtaining investor authorization, blurring the lines between different investments.
5. Funded Ponzi-Like Payments Approximately 16% of investor funds were used to make Ponzi-like distributions, meaning money from newer investors was used to pay earlier investors, masking the scheme's true financial state.
6. Concealed Speers's Past Violations The defendants failed to disclose that Brady Jack Speers had been charged by the SEC in 2015 for violating federal securities laws and had filed for personal bankruptcy twice.
7. Raised $8 Million from 40 Investors Through these misrepresentations and omissions, the defendants successfully raised approximately $8 million from 40 investors in unregistered securities offerings.

The Enforcement Action

The SEC obtained final judgments against Brady Jack Speers, Chatree Thiranon, and GHAP, LLC d/b/a Blue Star Texas. Speers and Blue Star were ordered to pay disgorgement of $2,506,301 plus $240,320.82 in prejudgment interest. Thiranon was ordered to pay disgorgement of $415,723 plus $39,862.28 in prejudgment interest. Blue Star was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $1,152,314, Speers a penalty of $691,392, and Thiranon a penalty of $230,464. The judgments included permanent injunctions against future violations of antifraud and registration provisions, and bars against participating in securities offerings and serving as officers or directors of public companies.

Named in this action: Brady Jack Speers, Chatree Thiranon, GHAP, LLC d/b/a Blue Star Texas.

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