Crime & Safety

Melissa Man Gets Over 2 Years For Investment Fraud Scheme

Fox solicited the investors through several means, including letters and emails.

June 4, 2022

A Melissa man was sentenced to over two years in federal prison for his involvement in an oil and gas investment fraud scheme.

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Matthew Wayne Fox, 47, was sentenced to 33 months in prison in the Eastern District of Texas by U.S. District Judge Sean D. Jordan on June 3, 2022. Fox had pleaded guilty to a wire fraud charge on March 9, 2020. He was also ordered to pay $862,150 in restitution.

Court documents state that in 2015, Fox formed a company called Wayne Energy that claimed to specialize in the oil and gas exploration fields. Between March 2015 and October 2016, Fox raised about $949,650 from investors on a joint venture to convert an oil well to natural gas in Upshur County.

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