SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man pleaded guilty Tuesday in connection with an investment fraud scheme worth $69.5 million, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Devin Ward Elder, 47, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. Elder is expected to be sentenced in early June.
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Court documents indicate Elder was the founder and chief executive officer of DJE Texas Management Group, LLC, a San Antonio-based investment firm formed in March 2015.
The firm invested in apartments, industrial flexible workspace units, land projects, commercial building projects and also offered investment in an “Income Fund.”
From January 2023 to March 2025, Elder raised more than $69.5 million from approximately 345 investor victims across 17 real estate investments, the DOJ said.
Elder repeatedly promised victims high returns and minimal risk in multiple material misrepresentations. Investigators said he would also “co-invest” his own money.
“Additionally, in classic Ponzi fashion, Elder made interest payments to investors of one project using investor funds from other projects without disclosing the nature or source of those interest payments,” documents show.
Over the two years and two months of the fraud scheme, investors received approximately $8.8 million, which Elder claimed were interest and principal payments.
However, according to the Justice Department, a significant amount of the $8.8 million came from others’ investments in different funds rather than actual investment returns.
When the scheme ended in March 2025, Elder told the investors that his business was experiencing financial difficulties, that projects would not be completed and that they should expect to lose “a large portion” of their investments.
According to a DOJ news release, Elder faces up to 20 years behind bars.
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