Construction Exec Pleads Guilty in Texas to Fraud

A former executive with a construction firm that specialized in recovery from natural disasters has pleaded guilty in Texas to securities and commodities fraud.

Federal prosecutors in Dallas on Monday announced the plea by Brian Marshall of Tampa, Fla., in a scam to defraud investors in Home Solutions of America Inc. Prosecutors have recommended Marshal serve no more than five years in prison.

Marshall was a vice president and on the board of Home Solutions in Dallas before the company moved to Louisiana in mid-2008.

Prosecutors say Marshall led a subsidiary, Tampa-based Fireline Restoration Inc., and in 2006 and 2007 he fabricated financial data about construction projects.

Frank Fradella of Covington, La., who was CEO of Home Solutions, earlier pleaded guilty to securities fraud in Louisiana and awaits sentencing.