MIDLAND – Last week a federal grand jury in Midland returned an indictment charging a Keller, Texas man with operating a Ponzi scheme.
According to court documents, Marco Perez, Jr., aka Sully Perez, 41, is the founder and director of Permian Basin Proppants, Inc. (PBP), a company headquartered in Midland that sells proppants such as sand for fracking operations. Between 2017 and 2022, Perez allegedly used PBP to perpetuate a Ponzi scheme by soliciting investor money based on misrepresentations. During this time, Perez took in over $11 million through the scheme. He used most of the funds for his own personal benefit, buying luxury vehicles, property and vacations.
According to the indictment, Perez offered victims the opportunity to fund or invest in PBP transactions. However, the representations Perez allegedly made were based on false and misleading promises, such as promising victims that their investments would be used to purchase frac sand at a discount and then be resold at a profit to fracking operations in and around the Permian Basin. Investors also were promised they would receive back their entire investment plus an additional return. Perez rarely used the investment money to purchase frac sand or complete promised transactions. Instead, he is accused of diverting significant amounts of investor money to pay for his personal expenses and to keep the scheme running, such as by making payments to prior PBP investors.
Perez is charged with 12…
