Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that entities connected to the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC) project violated federal and state securities laws and regulations.
Those who coordinated with the development have been found to have violated state and federal securities law.
“After a thorough investigation, it has become clear that the developers behind EPIC City flagrantly and undeniably violated the law,” said Paxton. “The bad actors behind this illegal scheme must be held accountable for ignoring state and federal regulations. In accordance with state law, the [Texas State Securities Board] should review our findings and refer this matter to me for further legal action.”
“I write today to invite you and your team to a meeting with [Office of the Attorney General] investigative staff to discuss the initial findings, review the corresponding evidence, and if you agree with my office’s findings, that you take the appropriate actions you are authorized to take and refer back to my office the actions the Attorney General may take,” Paxton wrote in a letter to Texas State Securities Board Chairman E. Wally Kinney and Securities Commissioner Travis Iles.
Earlier this year, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered a halt to the construction of EPIC City due to investigations into the project.
The Department of Justice has also opened an investigation into EPIC City following Sen. John Cornyn (R) calling for an investigation into the planned city. Writing to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, the senator said, “A master-planned ‘community of thousands of Muslims’ could violate the constitutional rights of Jewish and Christian Texans, by preventing them from living in this new community and discriminating against them within the community.”
