Two Cotton Valley men charged for investment scam
Two Cotton Valley men were arrested this week after allegedly scamming investors out of almost $50,000.
Detectives executed a search warrant Wednesday at the residence of Michael Musgrove, 31, and Ricky Walker in order to obtain record for a fraudulent business that had scammed three victims. When evidence was recovered, Musgrove admitted his involvement.
Musgrove said he had forged a buyer’s order from Peterbilt Motors Company in order to get the victims to invest in his fraudulent company.
One victim invested $30,000, a second invested $15,000, and the last invested $4,500. Lead detective Scott Tucker said there may be other scammed investors who are as yet unknown.
Walker was brought in for questioning Thursday and also admitted involvement. Both men were booked on three counts of theft by fraud, one count of forgery, and one count of conspiring to commit fraud.
Musgrove said he could currently only account for $900 of the alleged $50,000 obtained by fraud. Detectives recovered a Taurus pistol and laptop computer from the residence that had been recently purchased.
Musgrove and Walker currently have four other businesses registered to them. These are currently under investigation.
“You can’t get something for nothing,” Tucker said. “Before you invest in something, you really need to do background checking and make sure everything is legit. Follow up on any documents.”