A man accused of defrauding investors and farm customers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars is facing wire fraud charges in Texarkana federal court.
Douglas Mohler, who previously lived in Hempstead County, Arkansas, was recently arrested in Minnesota. According to an indictment, Mohler allegedly persuaded investors to contribute large sums of money to his poultry house roof coating business, promising significant returns. The business claimed to offer reflective roof coatings to cool poultry houses.
In one case, Mohler reportedly took $100,000 from a Lewisville, Arkansas, investor in 2018 but stopped communicating after receiving the funds. In 2019, another investor gave $300,000, expecting to double their investment, but Mohler allegedly cut off contact after securing the money. Smaller investments of $2,500 and $10,000 from Buckner and Searcy, Arkansas, residents were also lost in 2019 and 2020.
Mohler is further accused of taking deposits from two farming customers in Hempstead and Little River Counties for roofing jobs that were never completed. One customer reportedly paid $10,000, while another paid over $18,000.
Mohler was arrested on August 22 and released on bond. He is scheduled to appear later this month in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Bryant on four counts of wire fraud.
