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Home Front: Politix

Gigantic Muslim ‘planned community’ in Plano meets resistance from Texas AG

2025-10-19

The next stage of the proceedings we’ve been watching this year.

[AmericanThinker] Texas attorney general Ken Paxton has asked the Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) to review what he says is evidence that entities tied to the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC)’s EPIC City project violated state and federal securities laws — and to refer the matter back so he can file suit. Paxton called the alleged misconduct "flagrant," arguing that state law requires a TSSB referral before his office can bring a securities action.

After a thorough investigation, it has become clear that the developers behind EPIC City flagrantly and undeniably violated the law," said Attorney General Paxton. "The bad actors behind this illegal scheme must be held accountable for ignoring state and federal regulations. In accordance with state law, the TSSB should review our findings and refer this matter to me for further legal action.

EPIC City is a 402-acre master-planned community near Josephine, Texas, spanning Collin and Hunt Counties. Materials describe housing (single-family, townhomes, multifamily), a mosque, schools, parks, senior living, and retail. The project vehicle, Community Capital Partners, LP (CCP), has been described in EPIC’s promotions as created by EPIC, with EPIC as the beneficiary of project profits.

In March, Paxton opened a consumer-protection probe and served a Civil Investigative Demand (CID) on CCP, the vehicle formed to develop EPIC City. The March 25, 2025 blurb highlighted EPIC’s own promotional statements that CCP was "created by EPIC" and that EPIC is the "only beneficiary of profits" from the project.

Two days later, on March 27, Gov. Greg Abbott

... governor of Texas. Abbott is a Republican. His 2014 Dem opponent, state senatrix Wendy Davis, thought the absolute, most pressing, most important issue facing the state was abortion. Abbott beat the pantyhose off her. His 2018 opponent, Lupe Valdez didn't dwell too heavily on abortion, but she lost too...
announced that the TSSB would investigate EPIC and "affiliated entities for potential failures to comply with applicable state and federal securities requirements, including protections against fraud." In the same blurb, Abbott said he sent a letter dated March 26 requesting EPIC "cease and desist funeral service operations." He also said that "a dozen state agencies" were investigating "serious legal issues" concerning the potential illegal activities involving the alleged purchase of Texas property by "foreign adversaries ... taking place at EPIC."

On April 14, 2025, Paxton expanded his investigation, demanding communications from Plano, Richardson, Wylie, and Josephine due to alleged local support for the project. The requests sought emails and records referencing EPIC, EPIC City, and CCP.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) also asked the Department of Justice to open a federal civil rights probe into EPIC City, as highlighted in his April 11, 2025 letter to the assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. In the letter and subsequent blurb, Cornyn expressed concern over the potential for religious discrimination that might "violate the constitutional rights of Jewish and Christian Texans, by preventing them from living in this new community and discriminating against them within the community." Cornyn continued,

Religious-based discrimination is a constitutional violation as well as a federal rights violation. Appropriate steps should be taken to ensure that this community does not run afoul of these obligations. It may also be appropriate for an investigation to explore whether the proponents of the proposed development are abiding by existing federal and state prohibitions on the enforcement of Sharia law.

The DOJ closed its investigation with no charges, after developers affirmed that the community would be inclusive and marketed under the Fair Housing Act. However,
there's more than one way to stuff a chicken...
the decision did not touch the state’s ongoing consumer protection and securities inquiries.

WHY PAXTON’S INQUIRY?
CCP marketed $80,000 shares to accredited investors with "each share purchased [guaranteeing] one lot in EPIC City" with a stated 15% discount, an arrangement that is central to Paxton’s investigation.

Under the Texas Securities Act and the Supreme Court’s Howey test, a "security" includes an investment contract, money invested in a common enterprise with an expectation of return that depends on the managerial efforts of others. Promising that a discounted $80,000 "share" secures a right to buy a developed lot later signals an expected economic gain that hinges on the developer entitling land, installing infrastructure, and delivering lots. The arrangement fulfills the investment-contract definition used by Texas and federal law.

Anti-fraud rules would also apply. If EPIC/CCP’s "share" is treated as an investment contract, it is a security under the Texas Securities Act (TSA). Once the "share for future lot right + discount" is characterized as a security, certain rules apply. Before any security is offered or sold in Texas, it must be registered or notice-filed — or the sale must qualify for an exemption — and the issuer must provide truthful, non-misleading disclosures. Even if an exemption applies, material misstatements or omissions about permitting status, ownership, timelines, lot deliverability, or the use of investor funds can trigger anti-fraud liability. Paxton’s Oct. 14 statement characterizes the alleged conduct as securities law violations.

The share pitch also heightens the expectation of profit: a guaranteed right to buy a finished lot at a fixed discount functions as a return mechanism that depends on CCP/EPIC obtaining approvals, building infrastructure, and delivering lots. Investor upside (the discount and potential appreciation) stems from the promoter’s efforts, not the investor’s — classic Howey elements recognized by Texas courts.

Finally, context matters: As of mid-2025, public reporting shows no issued construction permits, raising materiality concerns for any marketing that implies near-term delivery of "developed lots." That gap between promotional claims and on-the-ground progress is precisely what securities regulators scrutinize under anti-fraud provisions.

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