AMARILLO, TEXAS -- An Amarillo man has been indicted on charges of running a bogus investment scheme called 'Treasury Gate'.
Tuesday a federal grand jury, returned a 39-count indictment charging 63-year-old Tommy Lee Buckley, with mail fraud - frauds and swindles, related to his operation of a fraudulent "investment" scheme. Buckley, is expected to surrender to federal authorities.
According to the indictment, Green Light and Aragon Tontine Green Light were names that Buckley gave to a group of people who supported his efforts to redeem supposed financial instruments that Buckley described as "certificates of obligations."
GL and ATGL had approximately 1800 members. "Treasury Gate" was the name that Buckley gave to his mission to redeem the certificates.
The indictment alleges that from January 1990 until the date of the indictment, Buckley ran a scheme to defraud and obtain money from unsuspecting people. He would convince them that he had financial instruments that he could redeem for trillions of dollars, and he would then share the proceeds from the certificates with GL/ATGL members. All the while, knowing the certificates were fake.
Buckley solicited people to join his group by advertising low interest loans in newspapers. Those loans would then be funded by the certificates.
He also conducted seminars to solicit people to join GL/ATGL, and charged an "up front fee" to most persons who joined.
He divided his group into two groups the "actives" and the "inactives." The "actives" purchased a newsletter that Buckley published. The letter cost between $14 and $17 per issue. He told the "actives" that they would get a bigger share of the proceeds than those who did not purchase the newsletter. In his newsletter he encouraged members to continue to send money by promising that redemption of the certificates was imminent.
Between 2004 and May 2008, Buckley deposited approximately $2.8 million, consisting of monthly checks and money orders sent to Buckley by GL/ATGL members, into his business account at a bank in Amarillo. He paid his wife $2500 per month out of monies he received from members.
If convicted, each of the 39 counts carries a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by the Assistant U.S. Attorney Vicki Lamberson of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Amarillo.
