Bill Hethcock of the Dallas Business Journal

DBJ: Jury Convicts All Four UDF Execs of Securities Fraud

The CEO of North Texas-based residential real estate development lender United Development Funding and three of his colleagues were found guilty late this afternoon on securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy charges. After nearly two days of deliberation, the jury convicted UDF CEO Hollis Greenlaw, CFO Cara Delin Obert, director of asset management Jeffrey Brandon Jester and partnership president and committee member Benjamin Lee Wissink on all counts. Dallas Business Journal reporter Bill Hethcock was in the courtroom every day and has the details on the verdict.

January 21, 2022 Bill Hethcock of the Dallas Business Journal

DBJ: Fate of UDF Execs in Jury’s Hands as Closing Arguments End

After a week-long trial, the fate of United Development Funding CEO Hollis Greenlaw and three other top executives at the North Texas-based residential real estate development lending firm is in the hands of the jury.

January 20, 2022 Bill Hethcock of the Dallas Business Journal

DBJ: Prosecution Rests, Defense Starts Calling Witnesses in UDF Trial

The Dallas Business Journal is providing continuous coverage of the trial. The defense put on its first witness yesterday and may call one of DFW's largest developers of residential and mixed-use communities to the stand Wednesday.

January 19, 2022 Bill Hethcock of the Dallas Business Journal

DBJ Reporter’s Notebook: An Inside-Baseball Look at the UDF Trial Going Into Week 2

The Dallas Business Journal’s Bill Hethcock reviews what’s happened so far (and been left unsaid) in the criminal securities fraud trial of four United Development Funding executives, including a certain phrase that starts with a “P” and a Twitter feud between one of the defense lawyers and a certain hedge fund manager. Jurors return Tuesday for Week 2.

January 17, 2022 Bill Hethcock of the Dallas Business Journal

DBJ: Former Director of UDF Fund Says Money Transfer Shouldn’t Have Occurred

On Day 3 of the United Development Funding trial, prosecutors called a former board member to the stand who said shifting money from one investment fund to another is improper. The Dallas Business Journal reviews that testimony the testimony of two other witnesses who took the stand Friday.

January 14, 2022 Bill Hethcock of the Dallas Business Journal

UDF Auditor: ‘I Had a Number of Questions’ that Went Unanswered

Prosecutors attempting to send four executives of a North Texas-based real estate investment trust to prison called witnesses Thursday to build their case that transfers between the REIT’s funds are illegal. The Dallas Business Journal is providing continuous coverage of the trial.

January 14, 2022 Bill Hethcock of the Dallas Business Journal

DBJ: UDF Trial Kicks Off

A “snag” in North Texas-based residential lender United Development Funding’s business model caused the firm to careen off the path of profitability, and the company’s executives then launched an illegal scheme to try to recover and to enrich themselves, a federal prosecutor told jurors in opening statements of a white-collar trial in Fort Worth. The Dallas Business Journal is providing continuous coverage of the trial.

January 13, 2022 Bill Hethcock of the Dallas Business Journal

DBJ: UDF Securities Fraud Trial Begins Today

Six years after the FBI stormed the offices of United Development Funding in Grapevine, CEO Hollis Greenlaw and three other controlling executives of the firm are in trial this morning on fraud and conspiracy charges in federal court in Fort Worth. The allegations, which the executives deny, involve dollar figures high enough to rank it among the nation’s largest financial fraud cases. The Dallas Business Journal is there for the trial and will have continuous coverage.

January 12, 2022 Bill Hethcock of the Dallas Business Journal

DBJ: Trial Postponed in Vast Conspiracy, Fraud Case Against UDF Execs

According to court filings, the case against the Dallas-Fort Worth-area firm involves "hundreds of residential developments across North Texas and Austin," millions of pages of documents and real estate investment funds involving billions of dollars.

November 17, 2021 Bill Hethcock of the Dallas Business Journal

DBJ: New Judge, Filings in High-stakes Case Charging UDF Execs with Cheating Investors, Banks

The criminal case against four United Development Funding executives has a new judge overseeing the case in Fort Worth federal court. Plus, new documents in the case shed light on how federal prosecutors plan to try to prove their case and how lawyers for the accused executives plan to defend them.

November 8, 2021 Bill Hethcock of the Dallas Business Journal