Ronald T. Dunn of Haltom City was sentenced to 25 years in prison yesterday by Judge Wayne Salvant on one charge of Theft of Property over $200,000 and three counts of Securities Fraud over $100,000, a news release said.
The case was prosecuted by the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office’s White Collar unit and a special assistant from the State Securities Board. Ultimately, Dunn was found guilty of running a Ponzi scheme on 13 victims and taking $693,000, the release said.
“Ronald Dunn left an endless trail of financial carnage throughout Tarrant County,” lead prosecutor Matt Smid said in the release. “The victims in our case trusted him like they trust a friend or a family member and he abused that trust in the worst way imaginable.”
Sixty-seven year old Dunn had no prior criminal record. According to the release, Dunn committed these crimes while working as an agent with Prudential Financial, gaining victims’ trust as clients of the well-established corporation. The release also stated that many of the customers Dunn stole from were elderly.
Prudential was at no time involved in or responsible for Dunn’s criminal activity. However, since learning of Dunn’s crimes, Prudential Financial has stepped forward and offered restitution to many of the victims of Dunn’s activities.
The release said it is believed more victims of Dunn’s Ponzi scheme may still have yet to be known.
The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office encourages anyone who may have additional information about similar acts to contact our office to report them at 817-884-1400.
“We hope this sends a message to other potential white collar criminals that this conduct will not be tolerated in Tarrant County,” Criminal District Attorney Sharen Wilson said in the release.