DFW Brewery Owner Arrested on Charges of Federal Wire Fraud, Murder

The owner of Allen’s Nine Band Brewing is in serious legal trouble — he’s currently facing federal fraud charges, and was arrested for the murder of a man in Carrollton last week.

According to court documents, Nine Band Brewing owner Keith Todd Ashley was indicted on federal wire fraud charges on November 13. Ashley is accused of bilking investors of more than $1.1 million via his company North Texas Money Management. Per the indictment, filed in the United States District Court on November 13, Ashley allegedly created a series of bank accounts that he used to receive funds from investors, who believed that they were investing in legitimate, “no-risk” investments that would provide returns of up to 9 percent.

The indictment alleges that, in reality, Ashley was using the accounts to shuffle the money for his own purposes, including operational expenses for Nine Band Brewing, payments on his own credit cards, mortgage payments, and gambling at casinos.

In addition to the fraud charges, Ashley is also currently being held without bail at the Fannin County Jail in Bonham, about an hour away from Dallas, on murder charges related to a crime that took place in Carrollton. According to NBCDFW, Ashley is accused of killing 62-year-old James Seegan in “an attempt to gain control of his finances.” After allegedly shooting Seegan, police say Ashley staged the crime scene to make it appear that the man died by suicide.

Opened in 2015, Nine Band Brewing describes itself as Allen’s first microbrewery, with beers like the Cactus Cat kolsch and Blue Lacy Brown Ale on offer via its taproom. This fall, the brewery offered a Hatch chile infused ale called the Hatch Me if You Can, a play on the classic caper movie Catch Me If You Can, which seems pretty ironic considering the circumstances. It’s unclear whether or not Nine Band will remain open in the aftermath of its owner’s arrest — phone calls to the brewery went unanswered on Wednesday morning.

If convicted on the federal wire fraud charges, Ashley faces up to 20 years in prison. Eater has reached out to Ashley’s attorney for more information on the arrest, and will update this post as more details become available.