SEC v. William J. Milles, Jr. and Donald J. Lutzko (ponzi schemes, 2019)

Judgment entered

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In July 2019 the SEC charged William Milles and Donald Lutzko with an oil and gas offering fraud and Ponzi scheme that raised at least $3.9 million from about 70 investors. After the court granted the SEC partial summary judgment, it entered a final judgment on 18 July 2022 ordering the two jointly liable for $1,865,814.48 in disgorgement and interest, plus further amounts and $207,183 penalties each, for a total of about $2.81 million.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$414k

Disgorgement

$2.2m

Prejudgment interest

$218k

Total relief

$2.8m

Alleged gain

—

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

the Securities and Exchange Commission announced this matter on July 18, 2019 as release LR-24538. The respondents named are William J. Milles, Jr. and Donald J. Lutzko (2 individuals, 0 entities). The action was brought in the U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas.

This library tags the matter as ponzi schemes, based on the conduct the regulator describes. Each tag links to a page explaining how that technique works, what statute it engages, and what penalties comparable actions have attracted. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

Outcome. A final judgment filed in the Western District of Texas on 18 July 2022 followed an order granting the SEC partial summary judgment on liability, so it is a contested ruling and not a consent. It enjoins both men from the antifraud and registration provisions charged and holds them jointly and severally liable for $1,696,201.10 in disgorgement and $169,613.38 in interest. Milles owes a further $257,598.16 in disgorgement, $25,758.80 in interest and a $207,183 penalty; Lutzko a further $227,177.20, $22,716.83 and a $207,183 penalty. The record's figures add everything: $2,180,976.46 disgorgement, $218,089.01 interest and $414,366 in penalties, about $2.81 million in total. I did not see whether either defendant appealed.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with one technique in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

• Ponzi schemes — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2019-07-18 Litigation release published
2. 2022-07-18 Final judgment entered against Milles and Lutzko after partial summary judgment

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

• SEC litigation release
• Final judgment as to Milles and Lutzko (SEC-hosted court filing)

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Related actions

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.