Indictment Handed to Las Quesadillas, a fast food restaurant operating in San Antonio
Texas State Securities Board
SAN ANTONIO (News Release) - On April 7, 2021, a federal grand jury sitting in the Western District of Texas handed up a now unsealed indictment against Juan Enrique Kramer, Adriana Pastor, Noel Olguin and Karina Hernandez. The indictment alleges Kramer and Pastor, his wife, promoted turnkey investments tied to Las Quesadillas, a fast food restaurant operating in San Antonio and throughout Texas. They promised to take all steps necessary to create and open new Las Quesadillas restaurants and, once established, turn the restaurants over to investors. They charged approximately $105,000 to $115,000 for a single location or approximately $250,000 for a “master license” location.
According to the indictment, Kramer and Pastor targeted Mexican national investors. In order to recruit investors, the indictment claims Kramer and Pastor partnered with Texas Franchise Business and Consulting, a business operated by Olgin and Hernandez. Olgin allegedly recruited investors by attending investment fairs and conferences in Mexico and he and Hernandez met with investors and promoted Las Quesadillas as a vetted safe and secure opportunity. They received $20,000 to $25,000 in commissions for each successful deal they brought to Kramer and Pastor.
However, Olgin and Hernandez are accused of touting the safety and security of the opportunity at a time they knew Kramer and Pator repeatedly took investor money, failed to deliver on their contracts and refused to return investor funds. The indictment also accuses the parties of perpetuating other manners and means of their conspiracy. For example, they are accused of marketing and selling multiple Las Quesadillas locations knowing the locations would never be completed and, in some cases, never provided investors with anything of value in return for their principal. Kramer and Pastor were allegedly using funds for personal purposes or, in some cases, to provide partial payments to previous investors.
Kramer is accused of frequently displaying false and fraudulent accounting numbers and beginning but not completing construction – and because the majority of investors resided in Mexico, they were unable to regularly visit the locations. According to the indictment, Kramer falsely told these Mexican investors the construction process was proceeding as planned. When investors complained, Kramer offered partial refunds or stakes in other businesses as an alternative to repayment – and when these methods failed, Kramer and Pastor threatened to sue the investors for breach of contract before cutting off communications.
Altogether, the indictment charges all parties with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. It also charges Kramer with four counts of wire fraud, Olgin and Hernandez with two counts of wire fraud and Pastor with one count of wire fraud.
The case is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas. The Texas State Securities Board, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations Division investigated the case.