Federal Wire Fraud — Western District of Texas
DJE Texas
Management Group
DJE Texas Management Group, LLC was a San Antonio-based real estate investment firm founded by Devin Ward Elder in March 2015. Between January 2023 and March 2025, it raised approximately $66 million from 345 investors across 17 separate investment offerings. Elder pleaded guilty to one count of federal wire fraud on February 17, 2026.
| Company | DJE Texas Management Group, LLC |
| Headquarters | 115 Camaron Street, San Antonio, TX 78205 |
| Founded | March 2015 |
| Founder & CEO | Devin Ward Elder, 47 |
| Case | USA v. Elder, No. 5:26-cr-00038-FB (W.D. Tex.) |
| Charge | One count of Wire Fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1343 |
| Guilty Plea | February 17, 2026 |
| Presiding Judge | Hon. Fred Biery, U.S. District Court, W.D. Texas |
| Sentencing Date | December 16, 2026 · 9:00 AM CT · 262 W. Nueva St., San Antonio, TX 78207 |
| Maximum Sentence | 20 years federal prison |
| Money Judgment | $66 million (outstanding principal owed to investors) |
| Federal Receiver | Dan Kubinski, Crowned Eagle Realty LLC |
| Investigating Agency | FBI (investigation began Spring 2025) |
Key Entities
DJE Texas Management Group, LLC
Operating company — the primary entity used to solicit investors and manage investment offerings.
Founded March 2015 by Devin Ward Elder. Headquartered at 115 Camaron Street, San Antonio, TX 78205. Operated as the public-facing brand for all 17 investment offerings.
DJE MGR LLC
Registered agent for Elder's entire network of shell companies.
Used as the registered agent for virtually every Elder-controlled LLC. Same address as DJE Texas Management Group: 115 Camaron Street, San Antonio, TX 78205.
DJE Equity 01, LLC
Hidden commingling account — the central mechanism of the fraud.
Elder secretly transferred investor funds from project-specific accounts into DJE Equity without investor knowledge. He concealed this account even from his own accountants. DJE Equity served as a central pool to move money between all 17 projects, obscuring the true financial condition of each offering.
Get to the Choppa LLC
Helicopter operating company — funded with investor capital.
Registered agent: DJE MGR LLC, 115 Camaron Street, San Antonio, TX. Operated Elder's Robinson R44 helicopter (tail number N244WB), a camo-wrapped aircraft with a custom shark-mouth vinyl design. The helicopter was purchased and operated using funds diverted from investor accounts.
Eventide Land Holdings, LLC (ELH) — Elder-controlled bank accounts
Investor wire destination — funds immediately transferred to DJE Equity.
Investors were instructed to wire funds to Eventide Land Holdings (ELH) bank accounts specific to each project. Elder then transferred the bulk of those funds to DJE Equity 01, LLC, the hidden commingling entity.
The Scheme
False PPM Representations
For each of the 17 offerings, Elder created Private Placement Memoranda (PPMs) containing false and misleading statements — including that investor capital was never lost, no capital calls had ever been made, and all return projections had been met or exceeded.
Hidden Commingling via DJE Equity
After investors wired funds to project-specific accounts, Elder secretly transferred the money to DJE Equity 01, LLC — a hidden entity he concealed even from his own accountants. This allowed him to move money freely between all 17 projects.
Personal Enrichment
Elder diverted investor funds to personal expenses including Eventide Ranch (a 500-acre exotic animal ranch), a Robinson R44 helicopter (Get to the Choppa LLC), a SOCATA TBM 700 private jet, and a Gulf Coast beach house in Port Aransas.
Undisclosed Bank Loans
Contrary to his explicit promises of 'cash deals' with no lenders, Elder obtained multiple bank loans using investor-owned properties as collateral — including a $4,945,394 construction loan from Security State Bank and a $1,828,313 loan from First Citizens Bank.
Ponzi-Like Rollover
When projects failed, Elder secretly rolled over investor funds from failing offerings into new ones — including rolling $12.5M from failing projects into the DJE Income Fund — without investor knowledge or consent.
FBI Investigation & Arrest
The FBI began investigating Elder in Spring 2025. He was indicted and pleaded guilty on February 17, 2026 to one count of wire fraud. A federal receiver was appointed to liquidate assets for the benefit of defrauded investors.
Key Misrepresentations Made to Investors
The following representations were made to investors across DJE Texas's 17 investment offerings. All were false, as established by Elder's guilty plea.
- Funds would be used solely for the specific project being promoted
- Elder would personally 'co-invest' his own money in each project
- No bank loans would encumber the real estate ('cash deals')
- 10% annualized interest paid monthly with low risk
- 18-month maximum hold period for return of principal
- Income Fund maintained 20% cash reserves; 80% invested in land, multifamily, industrial, single-family, and performing notes
- Income Fund multifamily investments 'provide a strong income stream' (they provided none)
- Land purchases include an interest reserve escrow to ensure consistent distributions (the escrow was used for land deal investor payments, not the Income Fund)
- Income Fund invested in 7 industrial parks and other properties (investor money was used to support Elder's failing business operations)
- DJE held mortgages on $8M+ of Texas land notes at 8–10% (those notes were pledged as collateral for a $5M Texas Partners Bank line of credit)
- DJE Texas had never lost investor capital
- DJE Texas had never performed a capital call
- DJE Texas had met or exceeded return projections on all full cycle projects
"3 Points Critical to Our Performance and Our Brand" — All False
Elder repeated these three claims as a common theme across his investment offerings. All three were false.
Claim 1
"We've never lost investor capital."
Reality: 345 investors lost approximately $66 million in principal. As of March 2025, approximately $66,000,000 in outstanding principal remained owed to investors — none of which has been recovered.
Claim 2
"We've never performed a capital call."
Reality: While technically no formal capital call was issued, Elder secretly commingled funds across all 17 projects through DJE Equity 01, LLC, effectively using new investor capital to cover shortfalls in existing projects — the functional equivalent of an undisclosed capital call.
Claim 3
"We've met or exceeded return projections on all full cycle projects."
Reality: Elder paid approximately $8.8 million in purported 'interest' and 'principal' payments using funds from other investors — a Ponzi structure. No project generated the returns promised. In March 2025, Elder told investors to expect to lose a large portion of their investments.
The 17 Offerings
Elder created 17 separate investment offerings, each with its own LLC and Private Placement Memorandum. Fourteen acquired real property. Three — the Income Fund, Travis Building, and Bluemel Business Park — are summarized separately below.
Real Properties 1–8
Industrial Flex Space Projects
Eight industrial flex space offerings with an identical business model: purchase vacant land, build multiple 1,200 sq ft industrial flex units, lease them to small businesses, obtain bank financing to repay investors within an 18-month maximum hold period — debt-free throughout. Investors were promised 10% annual interest paid monthly plus a 1.5% interest payment at exit. Elder falsely claimed he would invest $23.6 million of his own money across these eight projects. Per the plea agreement: "Elder did not contribute any of his own money into any of the projects, other than $300.00 in Real Property 1." Real Property 1 (Brooks Business Park) was the only project with any construction. Elder obtained a $4,945,394 construction loan from Security State Bank in June 2024 and kept the proceeds instead of repaying investors. That property is now in foreclosure. Real Properties 2–8 remain vacant, unimproved land.
Real Properties 9–12
Land Projects
Four Texas ranch land projects raising ~$11M from 143 investors. Per the plea agreement (¶¶17–23, pp. 8–10), each was advertised with a '12 or 18-month max hold period' and 10% annual interest. Elder falsely claimed these were 'cash deals' with 'no lenders' and falsely promised to invest $250,000–$350,000 of his own money per project ($1.2M total). Investors wired funds to Eventide Land Holdings (ELH) accounts; Elder immediately transferred them to DJE Equity. Elder secretly took loans against Real Properties 9, 11, and 12 as collateral and used the proceeds for other unrelated projects. He never invested any of the promised $1.2M of his own money.
Real Property 13
345 Commerce Venture (Leeds Building)
10,500 sq ft mixed-use retail and office building in downtown San Antonio. Per the plea agreement (¶¶26–29, pp. 11–12), Elder falsely promised DJE would co-invest $1.64 million (combined $2.84M) to purchase and renovate the building, that investors would hold a 'first-lien position,' and that they would receive 10% annual interest plus 2% at exit within 24 months. DJE never invested $1,640,000. Elder secretly took a $1,828,313 loan from First Citizens Bank, giving the bank the first-lien position. No improvements were ever made — the Leeds Building remained abandoned, with plywood covering all the windows.
Real Property 14
214 Gonzales Venture — Ranch Land
214 acres of ranch land near a major Texas city. Per the plea agreement (¶31, p. 12), Elder raised $1.75M from 14 investors with a '12 month max hold period' and 10% annual interest. Elder falsely promised to invest $200,000 of his own money. Investors wired funds to Eventide Land Holdings (ELH); Elder transferred them to DJE Equity, then wired $1,696,835.03 to Capital Title of Texas on April 16, 2024 to purchase the 214 acres. Elder sold the land in smaller tracts but never repaid investors and never invested any of his own money.
DJE Income Fund
The Income Fund
Marketed as diversified real estate fund. Elder falsely claimed 10% returns from land notes that were actually pledged as bank collateral. Full Income Fund record below.
Travis 2026 LLC
Travis Building — Downtown San Antonio
Elder raised funds for operating costs on a building he already owned, misrepresenting its debt load by $19M+.
Bluemel Business Park LLC
Flex Space — Land Never Purchased
The most egregious offering — Elder never purchased the land. All $3M was diverted to other projects.
DJE Income Fund I
DJE Income Fund I, LLC — "Income You Can Depend On." Offered under a Private Placement Memorandum dated January 31, 2023 and marketed to accredited investors as a diversified real estate income fund paying a 10% annualized preferred return monthly, with a $50,000 minimum investment. Per the plea agreement, Elder raised over $7.5 million in cash and rolled $12.5 million from other DJE projects into the fund. None of the promised returns were generated by actual investment activity, and no restitution has been paid.
PPM Key Terms — DJE Income Fund I, LLC (January 31, 2023)
| Fund Entity | DJE Income Fund I, LLC (Delaware LLC) |
| Manager | DJE IF I MGR, LLC (Devin Elder, Key Person) |
| Offering Type | Reg D, Rule 506(c) — Accredited Investors Only |
| Price Per Unit | $1,000 |
| Minimum Investment | $50,000 (50 units) |
| Offering Period | Perpetual / Evergreen |
| Promised Return | 10% annualized preferred return, paid monthly |
| Lockup Period | 12 months per capital contribution |
| Withdrawal Notice | 90–270 days (depending on amount) |
| Manager Fees | None disclosed (only expense reimbursement) |
How the Income Fund Fraud Worked
Fraud #1 — Land notes pledged as bank collateral
The PPM stated the fund held mortgages on $8M+ of Texas land notes at 8–10%. In reality, those notes were pledged as collateral for a $5 million line of credit from Texas Partners Bank at 7.25% — making the promised 10% returns mathematically impossible. Investors were never told their collateral had been re-pledged to a bank.
Fraud #2 — Secret rollover from failing projects
Elder secretly rolled over $12.5 million from other failing DJE projects into the Income Fund without investor knowledge. Investors believed their capital was being deployed into new income-producing opportunities; in reality it was being used to cover losses in other Elder-controlled entities.
Fraud #3 — Ponzi payments
Elder paid approximately $8.8 million in purported 'interest' and 'principal' payments to investors using funds from other investors — a classic Ponzi structure. No project generated the returns promised. In March 2025, Elder told investors to expect to lose a large portion of their investments.
Fraud #4 — False performance claims
The PPM stated DJE had 'purchased and exited hundreds of millions of dollars of real estate in Central Texas since 2012' and had 'never lost investor capital.' Both claims were false. As of March 2025, approximately $66,000,000 in outstanding principal remained owed to 345 investors — none of which has been recovered.
Fraud #5 — False multifamily income stream claim
Elder's marketing materials falsely stated that multifamily investments 'provides a strong income stream to investors in the Income Fund.' Per the plea agreement (¶38, p. 16), the multifamily properties did not provide any income stream to the DJE Income Fund.
Fraud #6 — False escrow reserve claim
Elder's marketing materials falsely stated that 'Land purchases include an interest reserve escrow at closing to ensure consistent distributions to investors in the Fund.' Per the plea agreement (¶39, p. 16), the alleged escrow account was actually used for interest payments to investors in the land deals — not the Income Fund. Elder did not set aside extra funds for loans from the Income Fund.
Fraud #7 — Rollover paper transactions
Elder offered investors an extra percentage on their investment to roll over their investment in other projects into the Income Fund. Per the plea agreement (¶41, p. 17), this was just a paper transaction — funds did not actually move into the Income Fund's bank account. Elder raised over $7.5 million in cash and rolled over $12.5 million from other projects into DJE Income Fund, all while knowing the Income Fund could not produce the returns he had promised.
Social Media Advertising — Active During the Fraud
DJE Texas Management Group ran Facebook and Instagram advertisements promoting the Income Fund's "10% returns" and "Income You Can Depend On" tagline while the fraud was already underway and investor funds were being commingled.
DJE Texas Instagram post, June 6, 2024 — same "10% returns" pitch across multiple platforms.
115 Camaron Street
San Antonio, TX
DJE Texas Management Group operated from a prominent downtown San Antonio office at 115 Camaron Street. The same address served as the registered agent address for DJE MGR LLC — the entity used as registered agent for Elder's entire network of shell companies, including Get to the Choppa LLC and the 17 project-specific LLCs.
Elder cultivated a professional image through the office, social media presence, and appearances on real estate investment podcasts — all while the fraud was ongoing.
About DJE Texas
What is DJE Texas Management Group?
DJE Texas Management Group, LLC was a San Antonio-based real estate investment firm founded by Devin Ward Elder in March 2015. Between January 2023 and March 2025, it raised approximately $66 million from 345 investors across 17 separate investment offerings. Elder pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud on February 17, 2026.
How did Devin Elder's fraud work?
Elder solicited $66 million from 345 investors through 17 DJE Texas offerings, promising dedicated project funds and debt-free investments. He commingled all funds through a hidden entity (DJE Equity 01, LLC), used new investor capital to pay existing investors (Ponzi structure), secretly encumbered properties with undisclosed bank loans, and diverted funds for personal enrichment including a helicopter, private jet, and exotic animal ranch.
Was DJE Texas a Ponzi scheme?
Yes. Elder's plea agreement establishes that he paid approximately $8.8 million in purported 'interest' and 'principal' payments to investors using funds from other investors — the defining characteristic of a Ponzi scheme. No DJE Texas project generated the returns promised to investors.
What false claims did Devin Elder make to investors?
Elder falsely claimed: investor funds would be used solely for specific projects; he would personally co-invest in each deal; properties would remain debt-free; DJE had never lost investor capital; DJE had never performed a capital call; and DJE had met or exceeded return projections on all full-cycle projects. All were false.
What is DJE Equity 01 LLC?
DJE Equity 01, LLC was a hidden entity used by Elder to commingle investor funds across all 17 DJE Texas offerings. Elder secretly transferred investor funds from project-specific accounts into DJE Equity without investor knowledge, concealing the account even from his own accountants.
What is Get to the Choppa LLC?
Get to the Choppa LLC was the entity used to operate Elder's Robinson R44 helicopter (tail number N244WB) — a camo-wrapped aircraft with a custom shark-mouth vinyl design purchased and operated using investor funds. Registered agent: DJE MGR LLC, 115 Camaron Street, San Antonio, TX.
What is DJE Income Fund I, LLC?
DJE Income Fund I, LLC was a fraudulent investment fund operated by Devin Ward Elder through DJE Texas Management Group. It promised 10% annualized returns paid monthly to accredited investors with a minimum $50,000 investment. Elder pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud on February 17, 2026.
How did the DJE Income Fund fraud work?
Elder pledged investor-owned land notes as collateral for a $5 million bank line of credit without investor knowledge, secretly rolled $12.5 million from failing DJE projects into the fund, and paid approximately $8.8 million in purported returns using other investors' capital — a Ponzi structure.
How many investors did DJE Texas defraud?
345 investors were defrauded across 17 DJE Texas investment offerings between January 2023 and March 2025. As of Elder's guilty plea on February 17, 2026, approximately $66 million in outstanding principal remained owed to investors. No restitution has been paid.
Is DJE Texas Management Group still operating?
No. DJE Texas Management Group ceased operations in 2025. A federal receiver, Dan Kubinski of Crowned Eagle Realty LLC, was appointed to manage and liquidate the company's assets for the benefit of defrauded investors.
What happened to DJE Texas investors?
As of April 2026, the federal receiver has been liquidating DJE Texas assets. After paying secured creditors, taxes, and receiver fees, the net proceeds available to investors have not resulted in any restitution. Investors are encouraged to submit victim impact statements before the December 16, 2026 sentencing (262 W. Nueva St., San Antonio, TX 78207).
Submit a victim impact statement before the December 16, 2026 sentencing.
Sources: United States v. Elder, No. 5:26-cr-00038-FB (W.D. Tex.) — Federal Indictment, Plea Agreement (Feb. 17, 2026), Forfeiture Allegations. Texas Secretary of State — DJE Texas Management Group LLC, DJE MGR LLC, DJE Equity 01 LLC, Get to the Choppa LLC. Texas Franchise Tax Public Information Reports. Bexar County Clerk property records. FAA aircraft registry (N244WB). 345 Commerce Venture LLC Private Placement Memorandum, p. 52 (Aug. 1, 2023). DJE Income Fund I, LLC Private Placement Memorandum (Jan. 31, 2023). All information is drawn from public court records and government filings. Return to full case record → · Ark 40 Consulting Report →