A Grand Prairie attorney is facing federal charges after prosecutors say he ran a years-long Ponzi scheme, then forged documents and pressured a witness when regulators started asking questions. His name is David Thomas Gilchrist, and he’s 70 years old. He’s been practicing law in Texas since November 1983.
Gilchrist was arrested on August 31, 2026, and he’s charged with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and witness tampering. He made his initial court appearance on September 2 before a U.S. magistrate judge.
The Pitch and the Reality
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, Gilchrist raised money from roughly 20 people by offering partnerships and promissory notes tied to Texas property tax lien investments. Between April 2023 and January 2026, he pulled in about $1.45 million.
Here’s the problem though. Bank records show he never actually used that money to buy tax liens like he told investors. Instead, prosecutors say he mixed the funds together with other money and used it for personal expenses, while using new investor money to pay back earlier investors. That’s basically the textbook definition of a Ponzi scheme.
He only returned about $789,000 to investors, leaving a pretty big gap between what came in and what went back out.
The Excuses Kept Coming
When investors asked why they weren’t getting paid, Gilchrist reportedly had a rotating cast of excuses ready. A government shutdown. An arson investigation. A hurricane-relief deployment. At one point, he allegedly claimed he was recovering in a Tennessee hospital after a colectomy. Records cited by investigators, though, showed he’d actually checked into a gym in Mansfield, Texas around that same time.
Forged Documents for the SEC
Things escalated once the SEC opened its own investigation and asked Gilchrist for documentation. He allegedly handed over quitclaim deeds that turned out to be forgeries, complete with notary stamps and signatures belonging to real Texas notaries who never gave him permission to use their credentials.
During sworn SEC testimony in April and May 2026, Gilchrist allegedly claimed a woman acted as an intermediary who identified distressed homeowners and delivered cash to them in Bexar County, with names redacted from the paperwork for privacy. Prosecutors say that version of events was false too.
Trying to Get a Witness to Flee
This is maybe the strangest part of the case. Days before his scheduled SEC testimony, Gilchrist allegedly showed up unannounced at the home of the woman he’d named as his intermediary. He reportedly told her husband the FBI was looking for him and suggested the couple “take a vacation” for a couple of years, possibly in Mexico.
Prosecutors say that visit was an attempt to keep the couple from cooperating with investigators or revealing what they knew.
What He’s Facing
If convicted, Gilchrist could face up to 20 years in federal prison on each wire fraud and witness tampering count. On top of that, the aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory two-year sentence that has to be served on top of, not alongside, any other sentence he gets.
Separately, the SEC has filed its own civil securities fraud case against him, alleging he actually raised more than $1.85 million across four different fraudulent securities offerings, a bigger number than what’s tied to the criminal complaint alone.
Officials Aren’t Pulling Punches
U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould didn’t soften his language when announcing the charges. He said Gilchrist didn’t just defraud people out of their savings, he also allegedly forged documents, lied to federal regulators, and tried to intimidate witnesses to cover his tracks. Raybould added that his office won’t hesitate to go after anyone who tries to deceive investors or interfere with a federal investigation.
The SEC’s Office of Inspector General is investigating the case with help from federal law enforcement. For now, the criminal case and the SEC’s civil case are both moving forward separately, and Gilchrist hasn’t been convicted of anything yet.