A San Antonio real estate investor could face jail time for what federal prosecutors say was a $69.5M Ponzi scheme.
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Devin Ward Elder, who at one point owned a combined 2,500 apartment units, flex industrial buildings and thousands of acres in Texas, has pleaded guilty to one federal count of wire fraud for bilking more than 300 investors.
Federal prosecutors accused Elder and his investment firm, DJE Texas Management Group, of funneling investor dollars from newer investments to make interest payments on other investments.
Elder, who pleaded guilty on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, could face up to 20 years in prison, according to a press release.
Prosecutors say Elder made material misrepresentations by promising high returns with low risk. They also say he promised to co-invest his own capital in deals, according to the release.
Between January 2023 and March 2025, he raised nearly $70M from 345 investors in 17 real estate deals, according to the Justice Department. During this period, Elder distributed $8.8M in what he characterized as interest and principal payments to investors. In reality, however, those funds were drawn from money raised by newer investors, according to the release.
In March 2025, Elder notified investors that DJE was having financial problems and that they should expect to lose large portions of their capital.
While facing a monthslong FBI investigation, Elder was also slapped with several lawsuits from vendors and investors, the San Antonio Business Journal previously reported.
One stemmed from Denver-based Platte Canyon Capital's July 2025 purchase of the 268-unit Allure Apartments in San Antonio from DJE, The Real Deal reported. In October 2025, Platte sued Elder and DJE for the firm’s alleged failure to pay tens of thousands of dollars in rent since the sale and for allegedly misleading Platte about the apartment complex’s true occupancy rate, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
This month, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Seward asked the court to hire a real estate broker to help sell 21 single-family homes and land parcels that were valued at $21M, the Express-News reported. The proceeds are to be used to pay back Elder’s victims as part of a $66M restitution plea deal.
Wieser Taylor’s Stephen Taylor, an attorney representing Elder, didn’t respond to a message seeking comment prior to publication.
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