Katy man sent to prison for leading multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme

HOUSTON - A 40-year-old suburban Houston resident has been ordered to federal prison for his role in a scheme to defraud dozens of victims of over $17 million, announced Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck.

Christopher Knight Lopez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud Feb. 19.

After today's sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison ordered Lopez to serve 120 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard statements from 13 victims, each of whom described the impact Lopez's crime had on their lives. In handing down the sentence, Judge Ellison noted he had never seen a white-collar crime more offensive during his time on the bench.

From May 2015 to January 2025, Lopez and his brother, Jayson Lopez, ran an investment business and conspired with others to defraud their clients by providing false information about the companies in which the clients invested. They used forged bank letters and fabricated account statements to mislead investors about the companies' financial strength.

The bothers operated under several LLCs, to include Knight Nguyen Investments, Knight Advisory and Planning, Aevum Holdings Inc., Exempt Management LLC and Ping An Financial Services Pte.

The Lopez brothers misappropriated client funds for personal use and used additional investor money to pay purported returns to other victims to falsely portray the investments were profitable.

Christopher and Jayson Lopez also admitted they falsely claimed access to $2 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds. They told their clients they could use these funds to finance their clients' businesses if the clients paid large advance fees. The brothers collected the fees from their clients but never issued the loans.

The scheme resulted in an approximately $17 million in losses to more than 40 victims, including senior citizens and others seeking to invest retirement savings and college funds, as well as local and international businesses.

Jayson Lopez, 43, Orlando, Florida, previously pleaded guilty to the same charge and will be sentenced May 8.

Nadir Abdel Torres 46, Mandan, North Dakota, was also charged and previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, admitting he assisted the brothers by helping them obtain the forged letters and bank statements. He will be sentenced May 22.

The FBI conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin R. Martin prosecuted the case.