Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says his office found evidence the East Plano Islamic Center’s developers for the project EPIC City violated state and federal laws, according to a press release Tuesday.
Paxton is also requesting the Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) — an agency responsible for protecting investors and enforcing the Texas Securities Act — review his office’s findings to file a lawsuit against EPIC City’s developers.
“The bad actors behind this illegal scheme must be held accountable for ignoring state and federal regulations,” Paxton said in the press release. “In accordance with state law, the TSSB should review our findings and refer this matter to me for further legal action.”
In a letter to TSSB, Paxton claims he received more than 750 documents and written responses from Community Capital Partners LP, EPIC City’s developers, after opening an investigation into the proposed development in March.
Paxton’s office allegedly found evidence that CCP “violated federal and state securities laws and regulations, including both procedural violations and fraudulent conduct,” according to his letter. The letter doesn’t specify details of the alleged evidence or what laws were violated.
KERA News reached out to Paxton’s office and CCP and will update this story with any response.
EPIC City would be a 402-acre development in unincorporated Collin and Hunt counties, roughly 40 miles northeast of Dallas near the city of Josephine, and would include a new mosque, more than 1,000 single and multi-family homes, a K-12 faith-based school, senior housing, an outreach center, commercial developments, sports facilities, and a community college.
The development is facing multiple state investigations — including a criminal investigation — over its operations and the proposed EPIC City development. The Department of Justice dropped its federal probe into EPIC City in June after finding “all will be welcome in any future development.”
Paxton in April also demanded Plano ISD release documents outlining "potential connections" to the East Plano Islamic Center as part of his investigation into its project, EPIC City — but he didn't elaborate what the connections may be.
EPIC also accused state officials of discriminating against the mosque based solely on religion, citing Abbott’s comments on X that neither Sharia law nor “Sharia cities” are allowed in Texas.
At the same time, EPIC is in the midst of a suit they filed against the Texas Funeral Service Commission for the right to perform services after the commission ordered the mosque to stop them earlier this year.
Penelope Rivera is KERA's Breaking News Reporter. Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.
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