Debt Syndicator, GVA Founder Alan Stalcup Faces SEC Fraud Probe

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating an Austin-based real estate debt syndicator for fraud.

The SEC probe into Alan Stalcup, the founder and CEO of GVA Real Estate Group, stems from a barrage of lawsuits from angry investors who allege that Stalcup misappropriated up to $100M of their cash.

Jackson Walker LLP, a law firm representing a family suing Stalcup for fraud, was served a subpoena by the SEC in October demanding documents related to the case, according to court documents first reported by the Austin American-Statesman.

The Texas judge in the case subsequently ordered that the documents be handed over to law enforcement. The SEC doesn’t publicly acknowledge investigations as a matter of policy, but an attorney for Jackson Walker wrote in a filing that “based on the SEC subpoena, it appears the SEC is investigating Mr. Stalcup for securities fraud.” 

Across a half dozen lawsuits, investors allege that Stalcup intermixed funds across properties and used accounts as a “personal piggy bank.” In one suit, attorneys for investor Brian Kastleman allege company accounts were used to pay for more than $38M in personal expenses, including private jet travel, yacht charters and car purchases. 

Stalcup said in a statement that he welcomed the SEC investigation. He said Kastleman's lawsuit was driven by an investor unwilling to accept losses, and said that a former employee had been working with dissatisfied investors to discredit Stalcup and GVA with stolen and forged documents. 

Stalcup accused Kastleman of engaging in "an appalling and unlawful months-long harassment campaign" against him and his family, and said in a follow-up interview that he was working with law enforcement to pursue legal charges. 

The former employee had worked with other investors on additional lawsuits based on the same information that had been thrown out of court, Stalcup said. 

“We’ve had two similar cases that have been dismissed with prejudice, without any settlement payments, and we expect the same result here,” he told Bisnow.  

GVA is a property manager and debt syndicator that bundles investor funds and acquires underperforming apartment complexes. Many of the newly created investment funds are registered with the SEC as securities. 

Stalcup and GVA own or operate around 150 apartment buildings, according to court documents. Its website says its properties are in Texas, Tennessee and Kentucky. 

Stalcup and his business began to face significant scrutiny last year amid a wave of legal challenges. Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Capital Group sued Stalcup in June for allegedly mismanaging three properties and stacking up liens that ultimately ran afoul of loan guarantees. 

Another suit filed in a New York court by Benefit Street in February accused Stalcup of misappropriating insurance proceeds, commingling tenant funds and other malfeasance. 

Stalcup and other defendants are accused of conspiring to falsify rental income and profits on documents and using accounting tactics to make properties appear more profitable. 

“In 2023 alone, the GVA Defendants falsely overstated the reported rental income across its entire portfolio by over $20.6 million,” the lawsuit says, according to the American-Statesman.

Another lawsuit accuses Stalcup of fraudulently moving $650K between accounts covering different properties that he controlled. 

The Kastleman suit says Stalcup’s business began to face pressure when interest rates started rising and GVA’s debt obligations became unmanageable. Stalcup made capital calls that investors expected would be used to stabilize assets but were instead leveraged to bolster GVA’s balance sheet.  

Stalcup has filed several counterclaims against Kastleman, accusing him of intentionally damaging GVA’s reputation to recoup his investment.

GVA says on its website that it has operated across nine states, acquired 43,000 units and closed $10B in transactions since its founding in 2015. Before starting GVA, Stalcup created a golf marketing system that he eventually sold to the PGA Tour, according to a biography on the company website.

UPDATE, JAN. 8, 2:50 P.M. ET: This story has been updated to include a statement and comment from Alan Stalcup.