Houston, Texas — A growing series of lawsuits accuses Nationwide Coin & Bullion Reserve, Inc. (NCBR), a Houston-based precious-metals dealer, of orchestrating a nationwide telemarketing fraud that preyed on elderly investors through inflated “rare coin” sales. The cases — Hales v. NCBR, Brownell v. NCBR, and the Gearhart Estate Intervention — describe a common pattern of deceptive sales tactics, extreme markups, and financial exploitation of retirees.
In Brownell v. NCBR, 84-year-old Pierce Brownell of California claims he was persuaded to purchase “Don Everhart Signature Series” coins as a safe hedge against inflation. Between May 2022 and January 2023, Brownell made 33 purchases after repeated calls from telemarketer Dorian J. Ausby, who presented himself as an investment advisor. Appraisals later revealed an average markup exceeding 400%, and one coin sold at a 1,276% premium. Brownell alleges that NCBR’s owners, Turner M. Jones and Lawrence P. Kuykendall Sr., orchestrated the sales operation, creating scripts and supervising telemarketers who misrepresented coins as lucrative investments.
The Hales complaint, also filed in Federal Court in Houston, echoes those claims. Catherine Hales, another elderly consumer, alleges she was convinced to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in overpriced coins falsely marketed as “government-backed investments.” The filing describes NCBR as a “boiler-room telemarketing operation” that targeted elderly consumers nationwide by exploiting fear of economic instability and a desire for safe, tangible assets.
A third filing, the Gearhart Estate Intervention, extends the pattern further. The estate of Robert Gearhart, a 78-year-old Ohio retiree, alleges he was cold-called by an NCBR salesman who presented himself as a precious-metals expert. Gearhart spent $83,000 on “Signature Series” gold and silver coins that were later appraised at $4,500, a markup of more than 400%. The estate accuses NCBR and its principals of manipulating seniors through emotional appeals, inflated valuations, and promises of long-term returns that never materialized.
Collectively, the lawsuits allege violations of the Federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), mail and wire fraud statutes, the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), and the Texas Securities Act. Plaintiffs seek compensatory, treble, and exemplary damages, restitution, and the piercing of NCBR’s corporate veil to hold Jones and Kuykendall personally liable.
If proven, these cases would expose one of the largest coin-investment frauds alleged in Texas, revealing how telemarketers exploited the trust of older Americans through persuasive sales pitches and misrepresented collectibles. The filings portray NCBR’s business model not as a legitimate coin dealership but as a systematic scheme designed to enrich its executives by draining the life savings of elderly investors.