Charitable Foundation Treasurer Sentenced to 7+ Years for Fraud

A self-professed stock "trader" who also served as the treasurer of a church's charitable foundation was sentenced Friday to more than seven years in federal prison for fraud, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Thomas Calhoun Bain, 75, of Dallas, pleaded guilty to a felony information charging two counts of wire fraud in March. He was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle, who ordered him to pay $1,725,551 in restitution to various victims.

Mr. Bain, who served as the treasurer of a Dallas church's charitable foundation from 2016 to 2022, was responsible for transmitting monetary donations to organizations that supported gospel-based initiatives.

According to plea papers, Mr. Bain recommended the foundation issue 15 large donations to an entity Mr. Bain claimed furthered the church's mission. In turn, he told the entity that the foundation simply wanted to funnel the funds through the entity and on to other charities, in order to keep its donations anonymous. He directed the entity to transmit all funds to him, purportedly so that he could distribute the money to the charities.

Instead, Bain pocketed the funds, totaling approximately $1.4 million, and used it to support his lifestyle, including rent on a home in Highland Park, a membership to a country club, domestic and international travel, and a vacation rental in Aspen.

During the same time period, Mr. Bain also defrauded investors through his company, BainTrade. Though he had no professional licenses, certification, training, or specific educational background, he represented to investors that he was a "Trader" and falsely guaranteed an annual return of at least 8 percent on their investments with BainTrade, with a 50-50 split between himself and investors for any yearly return above 8 percent.

In fact, Mr. Bain engaged in a Ponzi-type scheme, using new investor funds to make distribution payments to prior investors. He put remaining investor funds toward his high-end rental home, country club membership, and travel, bolstering his appearance as a wealthy and successful "trader."

To further legitimize the scheme, Mr. Bain generated fake contracts that he required investors to sign, and fraudulent account statements showing fake annual earnings and profits generated. He also falsely told investors that he was investing his own money.

Between 2010 and 2022, Mr. Bain fraudulently obtained more than $871,000 from BainTrade investors.

Federal Bureau of Investigation's Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenna Rudoff prosecuted the case.