The sign on the front door of Triton Financial offices on Bee Caves Road read, “These premises are under the control and protection of the United States District Court and the Wester District of Texas.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission, in conjunction with the Texas State Securities Board, has filed a lawsuit against Triton Financial. Investigators moved in Dec. 22, confiscating the Bee Cave firm’s records.
According to the complaint, Triton, under the direction of founder and CEO Kurt Barton, 41, raised $50 million from investors since 2004, subsequently misleading how the investments were used, according to the SEC. Investigators allege the firm diverted a portion of the investments elsewhere, without informing investors.
In documentation from the TSSB, Triton submitted altered or fabricated documents to regulatory agencies that “constitute fraudulent practices in the sale of securities and fraudulent business practices.”
“Triton and the sponsored partnerships used broker-dealers and Respondent Triton’s own salesmen, including prominent former National Football League players and Heisman Trophy winners” to persuade investors, according to documents supplied to the Lake Travis View by the TSSB.
“Triton and Barton often told investors in the limited partnerships to expect quarterly distributions, usually 7 percent of the principal investment [annualized],” the lawsuit states. “In 2009, the distributions became more infrequent and Respondents Triton and Barton received numerous questions from investors.”
The allegations were filed less than a week after a Wimberley woman — Christine Ramsey Cayton — brandished a gun at Barton and another employee, demanding the financial services firm return $125,000 she invested. She was subsequently arrested and charged with assault.
Cayton filed suit against Triton on Dec. 4, alleging that the company mismanaged her family’s retirement funds.
The TSSB alleged the firm used new investor funds to provide distributions and return principal to previous investors. A spokesperson for the agency told the Austin American-Statesman that the actions of Triton and Barton to be “something akin to a shell game, shifting investor funds from one investment vehicle to another without permission and otherwise misusing investor money.”
The lawsuit seeks civil penalties plus interest and would require the defendants to give up any profits earned from the alleged scam. The agencies have revoked Barton’s professional investment advisor credentials and have ordered Triton to cease its activities.
The TSSB and SEC have also frozen the assets of both Triton and Barton. A receiver was appointed in an attempt to recover monies from Triton. The SEC said Barton has been barred from the firm.
“Mr. Barton has voluntarily consented to the appointment of a receiver,” said Joe Turner, Barton’s attorney, in a statement. “He intends to work closely with the receiver in an effort to ensure that the investors, many of whom are friends and relatives, do not lose their money.”
TSSB has alleged that Triton’s subsidiary entities had improperly transferred funds without investors knowledge — including moving money into Barton’s personal account. It also alleged that the “Triton Insurance respondents intentionally failed to disclose” material facts to its investors. The agency also stated the firm had “misrepresentations regarding purported collateral.”
Triton has had a high profile in the Lake Travis area since being founded in 2002. The firm hired former NFL players, including Heisman Trophy winners Chris Weinke and Ty Detmer, who had been executives in Triton’s athlete services division. Neither was named in the investigation. Detmer left the firm until earlier this year after being hired as the head football coach at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School.
Detmer told the Austin American-Statesman that he had been “misled” by Triton and Weinke told the newspaper he was “devastated” after learning of the allegations.
Two years ago, Triton launched the Heisman Winners Weekend, which featured 30 former winners of the award for a banquet and celebrity golf tournament at the Barton Creek Resort and Spa.
Triton had also inked a three-year deal to sponsor the Champions Tour tournament at The Hills Country Club. The Champions Tour is a golf tour run by the PGA Tour which includes a series of events annually in the U.S. and the United Kingdom for golfers 50 years of age and older. Many of the PGA Tour’s most successful golfers have gone on to play on the Champions Tour.
The tournament had previously been sponsored by FedEx/Kinkos, but that firm ended its sponsorship in 2008.
While the tournament was held this past May, Triton allegedly failed to meet the requirements of the contract. In the fall, Triton announced it would not return as the sponsor. The PGA subsequently suspended the tournament.