FBI Probe Into San Antonio Syndicator DJE Turns Criminal

San Antonio syndicator Devin Elder’s legal hot water has reached a boiling point.

Federal investigators recently opened a criminal probe into Elder’s DJE Texas Management Group, following a June warrant to seize DJE properties, including over 1,000 acres of land tied to Elder’s DJE portfolio across six counties in South Texas, the San Antonio Business Journal reported. Prosecutors are seeking a pause in proceedings for that warrant so as not to interfere with the new criminal probe, according to a court filing last week by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the U.S. Western District of Texas,

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that it would like to continue discovery proceedings in the case but believes overlapping investigations could adversely impact turning up evidence.

DJE was already under the FBI’s microscope for money laundering and wire fraud accusations through real estate deals, and that part of the FBI investigation is under seal. It was not clear whether the criminal probe is based on that civil inquiry or a different matter. So far, Judge Orlando Garcia has not approved the motion nor signed off on the June land warrant.

Though Elder is not named directly in the warrant filings, land records confirm he is the sole beneficiary of the DJE entities under investigation.

The targeted land includes undeveloped parcels acquired in recent years during DJE’s pivot from multifamily syndication to rural acreage sales, as well as a vacant industrial property and the long-dormant Leeds Building in downtown San Antonio. Elder’s flagship redevelopment project, the historic Travis Building, also went into foreclosure this spring after DJE defaulted on an $18 million loan backed in part by PACE financing. DJE paused investor distributions in February and brought on Fort Worth-based Max Wayman & Associates in April to manage an asset selloff. In July, Denver-based Platte Canyon Capital purchased the 268-unit Allure Apartments as part of that selloff for an undisclosed price.

In the midst of all of this scrutiny, in July Elder announced that he launched a new venture called Ark 40 Consulting, according to web domain records and a biography page on Elder’s personal website.

— Eric Weilbacher