William Andrew Hightower, Wire Fraud, Texas 2019

HOUSTON, Texas – A Bellaire man has been ordered to serve a lengthy prison sentence and pay millions in restitution for his role in a brazen Ponzi scheme that left numerous victims financially devastated.

William Andrew Hightower, a 61-year-old self-proclaimed ‘investment advisor,’ was handed down an 188-month prison sentence by U.S. District Judge Gray Miller at a hearing on [Today’s Date].

Hightower, who was previously released on bond, was immediately taken into custody and will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.

As part of the scheme, Hightower, the president of Hightower Capital Group (HCG), which he founded in 2010, convinced numerous investors to part with their money by making false promises regarding their investments.

Unbeknownst to his victims, Hightower had been barred from acting as a broker or associating with a broker-deal firm by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in October 2015.

Between 2013 and 2018, Hightower conducted a Ponzi scheme, taking money from clients and making false promises regarding their investments. He falsely told them their money was being invested in various projects, such as restaurants, movies, insurance contracts and more.

Hightower met most of his investors through referrals from other investors, family and friends. He lulled clients with misleading portfolios by presenting investment programs with purported high returns in a short period of time.

Some investors even re-invested additional funds with Hightower, who fraudulently used investor monies to pay back other investors, pay his credit cards, fund his company and/or to enrich his own lifestyle.

Hightower was ordered to pay a total of $9.5 million to the people victimized by his scheme.

The FBI conducted the investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Elmilady prosecuting the case.

Hightower pleaded guilty to wire fraud on October 19, 2019.

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