Mansfield man, son accused of running Ponzi scheme

The Securities and Exchange Commission sued a Mansfield man and his son Wednesday, alleging they ran an $11 million Ponzi scheme to fund the son's racing career and to buy real estate.

The civil case alleges that starting in April 2007, Ray White, 50, used his company, CRW Management LP, to persuade 250 people in 22 states to give him money. White allegedly told investors that he achieved high returns – as much as 30 percent – by investing in overnight foreign currency exchanges, the suit said.

But of the $10.9 million given to the elder White, just over $93,900 was invested into foreign exchange investments, the suit said.

Instead, the money went to pay for 22-year-old Christopher White's racing career and to buy replica car dealer Hurricane Motorsports of Arlington, which both Whites co-managed, the suit claims.

Numbers for Hurricane Motorsports had been disconnected Wednesday. Calls to homes for the Whites were not returned.

U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade has assigned Timothy Mack as the receiver for the assets. The judge also combined the SEC's case with a case against White's CRW Management filed Wednesday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

According to the SEC suit, CRW charged some investors 10 percent or even 20 percent of their investment to participate in White's trading program.

He allegedly paid some investors back with money derived from new investors, a structure common in Ponzi schemes.

The elder White had told investors as recently as Jan. 24 that he had stopped investing in overnight currency markets because of "homeland security" issues and promised that investors would get their money back. No investor has received funds from the Whites since he stopped trading, the suit said.

Ray White bought a house, land, cars and Hurricane Motorsports with the money and paid $3.5 million to "third parties," the suit says. It seeks restitution, penalties and an order barring the two from similar actions.

The elder White isn't a registered broker and cannot sell securities, the suit said.