Brooklynn Chandler Willy, a San Antonio-based investment advisor known for her regular radio and TV appearances, pleaded guilty Thursday to participating in a long-running Ponzi scheme, according to federal officials.
Willy, 46, owned the company Queen B Advisors LLC, which did business as Texas Financial Advisory (TFA), and Chandler Capital Holdings. TFA presented itself as a legitimate financial planning and asset management company but faced multiple civil lawsuits accusing Willy of engaging in fraud and violating securities laws.
Both the FBI and IRS investigated similar accusations, leading to Willy’s arrest in November 2024 and the federal charges to which she pleaded guilty.
During a Thursday court appearance before U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, Willy pleaded guilty to six counts of wire fraud along with one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, handling monetary transactions involving assets from illegal activities, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.
“I took money,” Willy said as she entered her plea, the Express-News reports. “I was a crook. I’m very sorry.”
Victims of Willy’s financial schemes packed the courtroom, according to the daily. As the session concluded, one woman reportedly called out, “I hope you rot in prison.”
Willy faces up to 20 years in the federal pen on each of the six wire fraud charges and also on the wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy charges. She faces lesser amounts of prison time for the others.
In addition to operating her Stone Oak investment company, Willy dispensed financial advice on radio shows broadcast by WOAI-AM, KTSA-AM and KTSA-FM and during appearances on local TV programs, often using them to extoll the value of her investment products. The radio stations dropped her program after her arrest.
The federal case against Willy spans back to at least 2018, documents show. It accuses her of working with two co-defendants in the case to bilk individual investors out of cash which she and the other two used for their own enrichment.
Acting on Willy’s advice, a married couple in spring 2018 invested money in a firm called Ferrum Capital, one of four companies allegedly operated by Joshua Allen and Michael Cox, the case’s co-defendants, according to allegations by federal authorities. Both men are scheduled for a jury trial in August.
Three years later, Willy urged the same married couple to invest $500,000 with another Ferrum-tied company — this time through Chandler Capital Holdings, which she said would act as agent, according court documents. However, instead of investing the cash, authorities allege Willy used it her own purposes, “including personal credit card payments, payments to other investors, and payments to another business” she controlled.
In a separate interaction outlined in court documents, Willy convinced another married couple to invest $2 million dollars in an associate’s company, saying the money would fund a variety of legitimate investments. However, once again, Willy used the cash for her own benefit, funding payments to herself, the associate and other investors, according to the feds’ allegations.
Willy is further accused of convincing two other investors to pump $75,000 and $600,000 respectively into what she promised were legitimate business investments but actually turned out to be paid to her benefit, according to the federal case.
The filing also alleges Willy conspired with Allen and Cox by providing clients with false information about their investments in entities controlled by the co-defendants. The three defendants are accused of working to convince investors the businesses they were putting money into were legitimate even though they actually flowed cash into the hands of the trio.
The feds also accuse Willy of forging clients signatures in attempt to mislead agents investigating the criminal case against her.
Willie remains free on a $40,000 bond. Her sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 28, at which time Biery will consider federal sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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