Welcome to episode 241 of FBI Retired Case File Review with Jerry Williams.

I'm a retired agent on a mission to show you who the FBI is and what the FBI does through

my books, my blog and my podcast case reviews with former colleagues.

Today, we get to speak to retired agent Richard Velasquez, who served in the FBI for nearly 26 years.

Assigned to the Dallas Field Office's entire career, Rick spent his first four years in Dallas

and then the last 21 years in the Plano Frisco resident agency where he specialized in and managed

an intensive caseload of complex financial crime investigations.

In this episode, Rick reviews his Disney theme park fraud case against Thomas Lucas Jr.,

who concocted a story that the Disney company would build a theme park called Frontier Disney DFW

in North Texas. Lucas Jr. used this false information to solicit doctors, lawyers,

professional athletes and others into investing in the land surrounding the alleged Disney site,

assuring them that when Disney announced plans for the theme park,

the new land owners would become instant millionaires, investors lost over $60 million in the scheme.

Rick Velasquez is the author of Texcott Dreams, Lies and Fraud, his account

of the FBI investigation that finally brought Thomas Lucas Jr. to justice.

In addition to his fraud cases, Rick also worked violent crimes and was a member of the SWAT team

for 10 years and on the crisis management team for two years, assisting in the coordination of

command post for high profile cases and major sporting events. After retiring from the FBI,

Rick formed Baird Velasquez and Associates Incorporated, a consulting and private investigation

company specializing in complex financial investigative matters. I hope you enjoyed this interview

as much as I did. But a tough week, I've been contemplating what, if anything, I was going to say

about the tragic news concerning the two FBI managers who failed to protect USA gymnast from

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