<\/p>\n
Paula Vacek arrives for her plea hearing Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard Farrer. She pleaded guilty to one court of wire fraud.<\/p>\n
Patrick Danner\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
Paula Vacek. who pleaded guilty to wire fraud Thursday, is scheduled to be sentenced July 8.<\/p>\n
Patrick Danner\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
Two weeks after ex-San Antonio financial adviser Brooklynn Chandler Willy<\/a> pleaded guilty to 10 federal criminal charges, one of her former associates also has entered a guilty plea.<\/p>\n Paula Vacek<\/a>, who lives in the San Antonio area, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on\u00a0Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard Farrer<\/a>. The offense carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a maximum of three\u00a0years of post-release supervision. She\u2019ll have to pay $783,570 in restitution.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Unlike Willy\u2019s hourlong plea hearing in a packed, emotional courtroom March 19, Vacek\u2019s 30-minute appearance was subdued and was conducted along with pleas hearings for two other defendants in unrelated cases. No family members were there to console her when it ended.<\/p>\n Vacek, 47, was charged by way of a two-page information on Jan. 13 rather than by a grand jury indictment.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Ex-San Antonio financial adviser Brooklynn Chandler Willy pleads guilty in Ponzi scheme<\/a><\/p>\n San Antonio Express News Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source on Google to see more of us when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Her plea agreement wasn\u2019t publicly available Thursday, and the court is closed for Good Friday. But according to the charging document, \u201cVacek devised a scheme\u201d to obtain $200,000 from a married couple on the assurances that it would be placed in a \u201csecured investment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of being invested, Vacek used the money for her own purposes,\u201d the document added. The charge is unrelated to her dealings with Willy.<\/p>\n Vacek remains free without bond. She is scheduled to be sentenced July 8.<\/p>\n Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Blackwell <\/a>told Farrer that Vacek has been cooperating with investigators for about two years.<\/p>\n \u201cHer actions have already resulted in one guilty plea in an investor fraud scheme,\u201d Blackwell said in alluding to\u00a0Willy\u2019s plea deal.\u00a0\u201cShe\u2019s expected to testify for the government in an Aug. 10 trial against others in the investor fraud scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Joshua Allen and Michael Cox<\/a>, who co-owned Lubbock-based investment firm\u00a0Ferrum Capital LLC, were indicted<\/a> with Willy in July on one count each of conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud. Allen and Cox have pleaded not guilty and are slated to go to trial in U.S. District Judge Fred Biery\u2019s<\/a> court.<\/p>\n SA INC.: Get the week\u2019s top local business stories in your inbox<\/a><\/p>\n It marked the second indictment for\u00a0Willy, who was arrested in late 2024 on obstruction of justice, aggravated identity theft and making a false statement, all related to the investor fraud probe.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last month, Willy pleaded guilty to 10 charges in an information, including six counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Her\u00a0sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 28.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n While Vacek\u2019s charging document makes no mention of Willy, Vacek is named in Willy\u2019s detailed 25-page plea agreement in connection with four of the wire fraud charges.<\/p>\n Willy owned Queen B Advisors LLC, which did business as Texas Financial Advisory<\/a>. It had offices in Stone Oak, Boerne, New Braunfels, Corpus Christi and Victoria before it shut down in late 2024 following her arrest. The firm had reported managing nearly $118 million in assets on behalf of about 620 clients at the time.<\/p>\n According to her plea agreement,\u00a0Willy convinced a married couple\u00a0to invest in a company called Cold Moon Holdings LLC. Vacek had formed the company in 2019 and\u00a0was its managing\u00a0member.<\/p>\n The couple invested a little more than $2 million spread over three payments \u201cbased upon Willy\u2019s false representations concerning the purpose of the investment and the security of the investment,\u201d her plea agreement said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n ALSO READ: Fraud claims mount against San Antonio investment adviser Brooklynn Willy, her firm and others<\/a><\/p>\n The money was not used to purchase bad debt or to make business loans as the couple was told it would be. Instead, Willy used it to pay associates, including Vacek, and to pay other purported investors, the plea agreement said. Using investor money to pay returns to other investors is a hallmark of a Ponzi scheme<\/a>.<\/p>\n Willy also paid the couple interest from the same money they invested with her, the plea agreement added. Willy was charged with three counts of wire fraud in connection with her dealings with the couple.<\/p>\n The plea agreement also mentioned another Willy client who believed a $75,000 investment was for a\u00a0commercial real estate development in 2022. She provided the client with a \u201cLoan Modification\u00a0Agreement\u201d that \u201cpurported to memorialize a loan\u201d to Cold Moon, the plea agreement said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The money was not used for commercial real estate investment but for Willy\u2019s benefit, the document added. It led to another wire fraud charge against her.<\/p>\n Vacek\u2019s LinkedIn profile<\/a> omits Cold Moon. During the time of the investments outlined in Willy\u2019s plea agreement,\u00a0Vacek listed herself as an \u201cexecutive consultant.\u201d<\/p>\n She served as CEO of the Kendall County Women\u2019s Shelter from January 2024 to March 2025, her LinkedIn profile shows.<\/p>\n She was the subject of a cease and desist order issued by the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy<\/a> in 2013 for offering accounting services to potential clients despite not being licensed as an accountant.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n She \u201crepeatedly ignored the Board\u2019s attempts to gain her compliance with Texas law,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n