A Farmers Branch man was convicted on securities fraud charges Wednesday for swindling millions from 500 investors in Texas and Florida, many of them retirees.
Dennis Woods Bowden, 58, was found guilty of four counts of securities fraud and five counts of mail fraud for his role as CEO of Dallas-based AmeriFirst Funding Corp. and AmeriFirst Acceptance Corp., both of which are now defunct.
The Securities and Exchange Commission stopped the scheme in July 2007 after learning that Bowden and his accomplices raised more than $50 million by selling promissory notes called secured debt obligations that were not nearly as safe and secure as investors were led to believe.
Bowden misled his clients about the potential return on their investments and said they were guaranteed by a bank and insured against any losses. He also spent investors' money on an airplane, a sports car and a condominium, among other extravagances, without their approval.
Bowden, who will remain in custody until sentencing this spring, faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each of the nine counts he was convicted. Each charge also carries a maximum penalty of $250,000.
The managing director of AmeriFirst, 41-year-old Jeffrey Charles Bruteyn of Dallas, was convicted on similar charges last year and is serving a 25-year sentence.
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