Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says his office found evidence the East Plano Islamic Center鈥檚 developers for the project EPIC City violated state and federal laws, according to a press release Tuesday.
Paxton is also requesting the Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) 鈥� an agency responsible for protecting investors and enforcing 鈥� review his office鈥檚 findings to file a lawsuit against EPIC City鈥檚 developers.
鈥淭he bad actors behind this illegal scheme must be held accountable for ignoring state and federal regulations,鈥� Paxton said in the press release. 鈥淚n accordance with state law, the TSSB should review our findings and refer this matter to me for further legal action.鈥�
In a letter to TSSB, Paxton claims he received more than 750 documents and written responses from Community Capital Partners LP, EPIC City鈥檚 developers, after opening an investigation into the proposed development in March.
Paxton鈥檚 office allegedly found evidence that CCP 鈥渧iolated federal and state securities laws and regulations, including both procedural violations and fraudulent conduct,鈥� according to his letter. The letter doesn鈥檛 specify details of the alleged evidence or what laws were violated.
四虎影院 reached out to Paxton鈥檚 office and CCP and will update this story with any response.
EPIC City would be a 402-acre development in unincorporated Collin and Hunt counties, roughly 40 miles northeast of Dallas near the city of Josephine, and would include a new mosque, more than 1,000 single and multi-family homes, a K-12 faith-based school, senior housing, an outreach center, commercial developments, sports facilities, and a community college.
The development is facing multiple state investigations&苍产蝉辫;鈥�&苍产蝉辫;including a criminal investigation 鈥� over its operations and the proposed EPIC City development. The Department of Justice dropped its federal probe into EPIC City in June after finding 鈥渁ll will be welcome in any future development.鈥�
Paxton in April also demanded Plano ISD release documents outlining "potential connections" to the East Plano Islamic Center as part of his investigation into its project, EPIC City 鈥� but he didn't elaborate what the connections may be.
EPIC also accused state officials of discriminating against the mosque based solely on religion, that neither Sharia law nor 鈥淪haria cities鈥� are allowed in Texas.
At the same time, EPIC is in the midst of a suit they filed against the Texas Funeral Service Commission for the right to perform services after the commission ordered the mosque to stop them earlier this year.
Penelope Rivera is 四虎影院's Breaking News Reporter. Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.
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