Aug. 14—State regulators claim the owner of Oklahoma City’s Bricktown Hotel & Convention Center has sold more than $4 million in unregistered securities to investors in several states, and then used money for personal expenses and to pay off earlier investors.
Over a period of several years, Oklahoma City businessman Tom Seabrooke promised investors lucrative returns for investing in various real estate in the state, including a housing development in Weatherford and houses for sale in Perkins and Cushing, regulators said.
The Oklahoma Department of Securities moved Monday to seek a court order to freeze the assets of several Oklahoma City-based companies controlled by Tom and Karyn Seabrooke. The Seabrookes’ holdings include the real estate firm Seabrooke Realty LLC, the Bricktown Hotel & Convention Center at 2001 E Reno, the property management firm KAT Properties LLC, Oakbrooke Homes LLC, and the Cherry Hill apartment complex at 4708 SE 44.
Calls to the Seabrookes’ Oklahoma City offices were not returned Tuesday.
In documents filed in Oklahoma County District Court, the Department of Securities claims Tom Seabrooke promised investors in Oklahoma, California, Texas and Washington annual rates of returns of up to 15 percent for investing in Oklahoma real estate.
“Tom Seabrooke and Karyn Seabrooke have used investor funds for the payment of personal expenses, the payment of business expenses unrelated to the investment notes and investment agreements, and the payment of money to earlier investors,” according to court documents filed this week.
Several investors have not been repaid or received the interest payments or the collateral they were promised, the agency claims.
Investigation’s roots
The agency first warned Tom Seabrooke that he was in danger of running afoul of state securities laws in 2004 after he ran newspaper advertisements soliciting investors, according to court documents. The department launched a second investigation into the Seabrookes’ business activities in November after receiving information that the couple may have been involved in the sale of unregistered securities, according to court documents.
District Court Judge Patricia Parrish on Monday froze the assets of the Seabrookes’ companies and appointed Oklahoma City attorney Ryan Leonard as receiver.
“We are in the process of evaluating the various business interests of the Seabrookes,” Leonard said. “Our job as the receiver is to manage and preserve the assets.”