The FBI has asked Ferrum Capital victims to come forward. Meanwhile, Ferrum’s court-appointed receiver is aggressively seeking repayments for victims in a bankruptcy case related to the Lubbock-based company accused of securities fraud.
Company co-owners Joshua Allen and Michael Cox, both of Lubbock, are currently under federal indictment for securities fraud. Their San Antonio business affiliate, Brooklynn Chandler Willy, is also under federal indictment, which LubbockLights.com covered extensively in the links below.
An October 1 statement from the FBI said, “… More than 400 investors invested over $100 million with Allen, Cox, and Willy, who together orchestrated a scheme to defraud investors.”
“They also used new investor money to lull earlier investors. The use of new investor funds to pay returns to prior investors is characteristic of Ponzi fraud schemes,” statement said.
The FBI asked anyone who is a victim to fill out a form online.
The full FBI statement is copied below:
FBI Statement
Seeking Potential Victims of Joshua Allen, Michael Cox and Brooklynn Chandler Willy, Ferrum Investment Fraud Scheme
October 1, 2025
The FBI’s San Antonio Division and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) are seeking to identify potential victims of Joshua Allen, Michael Cox and Brooklyn Chandler Willy, who have recently been indicted for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and securities fraud.
According to the joint FBI and IRS-CI investigation, more than 400 investors invested over $100 million with Allen, Cox and Willy, who together orchestrated a scheme to defraud investors in Texas and elsewhere through Ferrum entities to include Ferrum Capital, Ferrum II, and Ferrum IV. Allen, Cox, and Willy misled investors by promising investors significant returns on their investments while downplaying the risk involved with the highly speculative investments, lying about Allen, Cox and Willy’s high commissions and lying about the collateral securing Ferrum investments.
Collectively, Allen, Cox, and Willy made millions of dollars from investors’ money and used the proceeds for personal expenses. They also used new investor money to lull earlier investors. The use of new investor funds to pay returns to prior investors is characteristic of Ponzi fraud schemes.
The FBI is legally mandated to identify victims of federal crimes that it investigates and provide these victims with information, assistance services and resources. If you believe you are a victim of the Allen, Cox, and Willy investment scheme, please complete this short questionnaire.
If you have already provided information to the FBI or IRS-CI, it is not necessary to respond to this questionnaire.
Your responses are voluntary but would be useful in the federal investigation and to identify you as a potential victim. Based on the responses provided, you may be contacted by the FBI or IRS-CI and asked to provide additional information.
An indictment is merely an allegation. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Ferrum is accused of wrongdoing in a series of lawsuits, which paint a picture of Ferrum taking money from victims in Lubbock, San Antonio and other places. Ferrum turned over roughly $47 million to Collins Asset Group, a debt collection company, court records said. Collins then handed over some amount of that money to its parent company Oliphant, according to the suits.
Lawsuits said Collins defaulted to Ferrum in late 2023 which then defaulted to its investors. LubbockLights.com covered the forensic accounting of that money here. Collins filed for bankruptcy in June.
In one of the lawsuits, Ferrum was put under the control of receiver John Patrick Lowe. His job is to get back money for the victims who sued in a San Antonio case.
Lowe filed claims in the bankruptcy case for roughly $66 million and accused Collins’ parent company, Oliphant, of having “wrongfully siphoned off millions of dollars from the Ferrum Capital collateral to which they are not entitled.”
Collins filed a document in the bankruptcy saying it owns more than $7.8 million of consumer debt that acts as collateral for Ferrum.
Lowe claimed Ferrum is “substantially under collateralized.”
“The Oliphant Parties control the collateral and the accounting for the collateral. … The Oliphant Parties refuse to provide the Receiver [Lowe] any meaningful accounting of what they collect from the collateral or how much it has cost to collect from the collateral.”
“[Collins] … and Oliphant Parties wrongly claim that they are entitled to at least 65 percent of collections on the Ferrum Capital consumer account debt collateral,” Lowe wrote.
He wants the bankruptcy judge in San Antonio to remove certain legal protections normally in place for Collins during the bankruptcy. Lowe wants to go after that money now and he went so far as to request an expedited hearing.
The judge granted a hearing for November 10.
“The value of the Receiver/Ferrum Capital collateral has eroded and will continue to erode as this case continues,” Lowe wrote.
Lowe wants to take legal action against debt Oliphant owes Collins which ultimately traces back to Ferrum. But he cannot do that until bankruptcy protections are lifted by the judge.
Among other things, Lowe wants to recover more than $2 million he says is already collected from consumer debt and – according to Lowe – is tied to Ferrum’s rights.
