scammers have long extracted cash from gullible investors seeking to extract crude from the earth a new breed of oilpatch con artist will promise to get you into frackingâ€”injecting fluid at high pressure deep underground to fracture shale and release oil and gas but in the grand tradition of charlatans throughout history what theyâ€™re really selling is a story one that people with extra money canâ€™t help believing a story thatâ€™s guaranteedâ€”guaranteedâ€”to double your investment in just a few months federal officials say such swindles can double when oil prices rise sharply with crude up about 50 this year prosecutors are bracing for a new wave of cases hereâ€™s how christopher faulkner a goateed texan residing in federal prison since last year pulled off a 70 million shaledriven ponzi scheme when oil boomed about a decade ago everyone in the us knows viscerally when oil prices go up in 2010 just as the fracking boom got under way crude started to climb boosting interest among people who felt that since they buy gas every week surely they must understand what drives the industry faulkner called himself â€œthe frack masterâ€� and bragged about his â€œdiverse backgroundâ€� in the business he presented himself as an oil expert claiming academic credentials such as a masterâ€™s from the university of north texas and a phd from concordia college according to court documents over the years faulkner claimed involvement in more than 15 oil and gas prospects in north dakota oklahoma and texas as his scam grew he used at least four puppet companies and enlisted various partners to help carry out the fraud prosecutors say the key here is specificity the more jargon impenetrable data and complex plans the better faulkner included estimates for drilling and expenses alongside details heâ€™d lifted from real operatorsâ€”but which he inflated to turbocharge the purported investment returns finally he tacked on reports from a geologist with a reputation for exaggerating his findings then pumped up the numbers even further shale scams thrive in texas with its deeply embedded oil culture around 2009 faulkner teamed up with a pair of experienced oil and gas investment brokers who helped with the marketing they would coldcall potential investors from a list they bought from a â€œleadgeneration companyâ€� in florida in 2014 faulkner published a book called the fracking truth to bolster his image then he hit the airwaves posing as an industry expert on cnbc cnn fox andâ€”yesâ€”bloomberg television 6 donâ€™t forget the strip clubs and the bentley faulkner dropped more than 20 million of investorsâ€™ money over the years on personal expenses in 2014 alone he spent almost 1 million at a personal concierge company for â€œprivate entertainmentâ€� 380000 at ultraluxe travel agency in the know experiences 220000 on private jets and over 178000 in new york nightclubs lavo provocateur and tao he called his companyissued american express account his â€œwhore cardâ€�â€”charging 1 millionplus at bars in strip clubs and with escort services and then thereâ€™s the mclaren two range rovers a mercedes a bentley and a jaguar court documents show 7 do it again and again and again to keep the momentum going faulkner on three occasions started over with a new company a new prospectus and new marketing brochures drowning in falsehoods and unrealistic promises and at each turn he managed to overcharge his investors and pocket the difference inflating the numbers by as much as 800 federal agents arrested faulkner at los angeles international airport in june 2018 charging him with securities fraud and attempted tax evasion after pleading guilty he was sentenced last year to a decade and a half at the federal penitentiary in lompoc calif and ordered to pay 92 million in restitution to investors