LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – We have an update in our Testing Trust investigation.

As we have reported, Lubbock financial advisors Mike Cox and Joshua Allen are accused in lawsuits of talking their clients into a multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme.

The lawsuits were originally filed against Cox, Allen, their company Ferrum Capital (and its entities) and others. Cox has since filed for bankruptcy, so he is no longer named in the suits.

Our KCBD Investigates Team has learned of another lawsuit filed against Allen.

Aside from Ferrum Capital and its entities, Allen was also a franchise partner in Lubbock’s Walk On’s Bistreaux and Bar.

The lawsuit claims in 2018, Allen and his business partner, sought out investors to expand the franchise to other cities. Two investors have sued.

Allen’s business partner has settled, but the case against Allen is headed for trial.

In 2016, excitement grew in Lubbock as Allen and others partnered to bring Walk On’s Bistreaux and Bar to the Hub City. The restaurant opened in October 2016 and Chance Britt was a fan.

“Lubbock needed that boost on that side of town, the development on that side of town was growing; it was a perfect location,” Britt said. “The hype was there; the vibe was there. Everything about Walk On’s was appealing at the time.”

According to the lawsuit, in 2018, Allen approached Britt at church about an investment opportunity to expand the Walk On’s franchise to Amarillo and El Paso.

The lawsuit states Allen presented potential investors, like Britt, with a one-page sheet that forecasted promising annual sales.

“Him being known in the church, it gave it a lot of credibility,” Britt said.

About five years ago, the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance interviewed Allen about the restaurants he owned and his financial advising business.

Britt said he knew about Allen’s business endeavors but had never seen the video, until now. We played a portion of the video for Britt.

In the interview, Allen said, “We think Lubbock is a great place for a Walk On’s and we gave it a shot and it’s been very successful.”

“It’s the first Walk On’s outside of Louisiana and it’s the first franchise ever granted,” Allen said in the interview.

We asked Britt what type of reputation Allen had when he was approached to invest.

“He had a reputation for a couple of restaurants that opened and actually failed. Cantina Laredo and West Crust Pizza, both of those failed, which should have been a red flag. However, with my CPA Tait Crow, who also invested in Walk On’s, we saw an opportunity in Walk On’s that the others did not have,” Britt said.

We asked Britt if he had any concerns before he invested.

“After reviewing all of the financials and stuff that Tait and I went over, and we went over them together, we were both like, this is like a no-brainer. His firm is doing the taxes for Walk On’s, he is a certified CPA, it just doesn’t get any better on real paper,” Britt said.

Crow said he remembers his initial meeting with Allen.

“We go to lunch at Walk On’s, Josh throws down that makeshift prospectus. We were doing the accounting work for this Walk On’s, so I was very familiar with what it could do financially. So, we leave the meeting and I tell Chance, ‘Hey this is a pretty good investment.’ It had a payback period of just a little over two years.”

Crow said the pitch to invest in franchises in Amarillo and El Paso was so good he invested $150,000 of his own money.

Britt was all in, too.

“I invested $600,000,” Britt said.

“After you invested that initial $600,000, what did Mr. Allen tell you about that money?” we asked.

“That I should be able to double my money if not make even more. He kept promising there would be distributions along the way. We never saw a distribution. In fact, we never saw financials on any of it,” Britt said.

According to the offer sheet, the estimated annual distributions were 12 percent.

This lawsuit claims there “was no prospectus, no financial disclosures, and no securities package as required by Texas and Federal law for investments of this nature.”

Crow said he too struggled to get information. He said he would receive an economic forecast that had nothing to do with the store, but “other than that, no financials. We’ve never seen a financial one. The other thing other than that are the actual tax returns,” Crow said.

This lawsuit states the tax returns raised questions.

According to these court documents, Allen and his business partner created WTX WO, Limited as a Texas limited partnership to serve as an investment vehicle to raise cash to build and operate the franchised restaurants. The court documents claim Quball Holdings LLC was created to serve as the general partner, with Allen and his business partner as the governing persons for Quball.

The 2021 tax return, included in the lawsuit, states Quball LLC escrowed more than $3 million in cash, which belonged to WTX, which should have been used to pay promised distributions to investors.

“I understand investments, I understand risks, I understand all investments don’t work out, and I am fine with that. I was not okay with the $3.6 million that we had loaned the other LLC. I just felt like that was not a good situation. So, I don’t know where that money went,” Crow said.

The lawsuit states that based on the representations of the defendants, through the end of 2022, Britt should have received distributions of about $816,000 and Crow should have distributions of about $204,000.

“Did not receive a dime,” Crow said.

Britt said the loss has taken a significant financial toll on his family.

“It caused a lot of heartache; it has caused a lot of pain. I have managed to stay afloat, but at the same time, that’s a significant amount of money,” Britt said.

Britt said he had to file for bankruptcy.

“Bankruptcy was the hardest thing we have had to do as a family. It was very trying. It is a sense of pride thing because we had done well up until that point,” Britt said.

Britt and Crow hired Lubbock attorney Ed Price to represent them in this lawsuit who says he is still trying to get answers and money for his clients.

“We have made multiple requests for accountings but not received anything,” Price said.

Price also represents dozens of plaintiffs in a separate class action lawsuit against Allen, his financial advising company Ferrum Capital, its entities, and others.

“It is hard to imagine the scope of this. It’s affected roughly 4 or 500 people that we know of, maybe more. It may reach as much as $100 million,” Price said.

The court documents in that case claim Ferrum was created to be a Ponzi scheme.

Crow said he recently learned some of his clients invested in Ferrum and said they lost everything. Clients like Leslie Workman and her father, a veteran.

Crow said when Workman told him the news, it broke him.

“I cried. Leslie and her husband, Rusty, are really good friends of mine and I have met her dad, what an amazing story that guy has on what he did and what he did for his country and to end up homeless and living with his daughter, it’s not fair,” Crow said.

Crow and Britt said they have now put their trust in the justice system.

“When you make that kind of investment, you have that kind of faith in people, at some point, you’ve got to have closure. The justice system has to work for some of us,” Britt said.

The trial is scheduled for June 9, 2025 in the 72nd District Court.

The KCBD Investigates Team checked Walk On’s locations and found one location in Amarillo, but none in El Paso.

Allen has not returned our calls.

We contacted the attorney who represented Allen in this lawsuit. His office says they are no longer representing Allen. Before his firm’s withdrawal, the attorney filed a response to the lawsuit that denied every allegation.

The counterclaims state due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Walk On’s franchises have not generated the financial projections that were initially anticipated, resulting in losses to all partners, including defendants.

The court documents claim, “Even if plaintiffs can show defendants were under any obligation to provide a certain return, which they were not, Plaintiff’s claims are barred by the defense of impossibility arising from the unforeseen and unforeseeable COVID-19 pandemic.”

We also contacted Walk On’s corporate office.

A spokesperson said they could not comment on pending litigation.

Previous Stories:

Testing Trust: Lawsuit claims alleged scheme ‘identical’ to program previously run by defendant

Testing Trust: Many fear everything lost in alleged Ponzi scheme

Testing Trust: Suits accuse Lubbock financial advisors of operating Ponzi scheme

Copyright 2025 KCBD. All rights reserved.