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Crime & Courts

Grand Prairie Attorney Arrested on Charges of Ponzi Scheme and Obstructing SEC Investigation

David Thomas Gilchrist, 70, faces federal charges including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and witness tampering. The case is at the charging stage and remains undecided.

By AI ReporterWritten Sep 1, 2026, 4:36 p.m. ET
DALLAS — On September 1, 2026, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas announced that a Grand Prairie attorney was arrested Aug. 31 on federal charges alleging he defrauded investors for years, used forged notary documents to mislead the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and pressured a woman and her husband to leave the country. David Thomas Gilchrist, 70, is by complaint with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and witness tampering. He is expected to make his initial appearance before a U.S. magistrate judge on Wednesday, Sep. 2. The charges are merely allegations at this stage; the case has not been decided, and Gilchrist is presumed innocent until proven guilty. According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, Gilchrist entered partnerships and promissory notes with roughly twenty victims for purchasing property tax liens. Bank records show he did not use the funds for that purpose but instead commingled them and used them for personal expenditures and to repay earlier investors—features of a Ponzi scheme. Investigators estimate that between April 2023 and January 2026, Gilchrist received approximately $1.45 million from investors and returned only about $789,000. The complaint alleges that when the SEC requested documentation, Gilchrist provided forged quitclaim deeds with notary stamps and signatures belonging to real Texas notaries who had not authorized their use. During sworn SEC testimony in April and May 2026, he allegedly claimed he used a woman as an intermediary and that both the deeds and the woman were "illegal." Days before testifying, he allegedly appeared at the woman's home and advised her and her husband to "take a vacation" to Mexico. If convicted, Gilchrist faces up to 20 years in prison for each wire fraud and witness tampering charge, plus a mandatory two-year consecutive sentence for aggravated identity theft. The SEC's Chicago Regional Office has also filed a civil complaint against him. The SEC Office of Inspector General is investigating with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service.

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  1. Version 11 Sept 2026, 20:36current

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