A Victoria contractor, 61-year-old Michael Wayne Galvan has entered a guilty plea to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Texas announced. Galvan, who worked under the company moniker MWG Ventures LLC doing business as MGB Builders, is accused of swindling more than $2.8 million from half a dozen private investors through a material scheme, U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani stated.
During his tenure as a vice president of the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Organization, from February 2016 to March 2018, Galvan leveraged his position to encounter his future victims - a number of whom held leadership roles within the organization. He promised these individuals lofty returns ranging from 10 to 12 percent on short-term loans, purportedly for procuring exotic building materials from China and other overseas markets for his construction operations.
In the federal courthouse, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Rick Bennett, Galvan conceded that the funds were never destined for their promised use. According to the Justice Department’s press release, his scam slowly came apart when he could no longer unearth new victims or more financing. Galvan admitted to defrauding numerous investors, totaling approximately $2.8 million.
U.S. District Judge Charles Eskridge is slated to hand down Galvan's sentence on December 5, where he faces a potential 20 years in the federal penitentiary and could be ordered to pay a $250,000 fine, in addition to reimbursing his victims. Despite the seriousness of the charges, he was allowed to continue on bond until the sentencing date. The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the inquiry into Galvan's fraudulent activities,
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christian Latham and Thomas Carter, as confirmed by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
