Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC), Community Capital Partners (CCP), and several of their leaders, alleging that they engaged in an illegal land development scheme that violated Texas securities laws.
EPIC City, recently rebranded as The Meadow, is a proposed Islamic housing development in North Texas that has drawn controversy throughout the year.
According to the lawsuit, CCP—formed by EPIC as a vehicle to purchase and develop more than 400 acres in Hunt and Collin counties—engaged in fraudulent practices while soliciting investments for the EPIC City project. Promotional materials allegedly described the development as the “epicenter of Islam in North America” and implied it would be reserved for Muslims, despite assurances to the contrary.
“The leaders behind EPIC City have engaged in a radical plot to destroy hundreds of acres of beautiful Texas land and line their own pockets,” said Paxton. “I will relentlessly bring the full force of the law against anyone who thinks they can ignore the rules and hurt Texans. The unlawful land project known as EPIC City will be stopped, and those responsible will be barred from ever creating another fraudulent operation like this again.”
Paxton’s office also claims that CCP funneled investor funds for personal enrichment and failed to verify whether more than 10 percent of investors qualified as “accredited investors,” as required by law.
The lawsuit follows months of state investigations into the project. In March, Paxton announced an investigation into EPIC City and later requested a referral from the Texas State Securities Board after uncovering what his office described as “flagrant” violations of federal and state securities law.
The EPIC City development has already drawn scrutiny from multiple state agencies. The Texas Funeral Service Commission issued a cease-and-desist order over alleged unlicensed funeral operations, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality flagged the project for lacking necessary permits, and the Texas Workforce Commission reviewed potential fair housing violations.
Representatives for EPIC and CCP have previously denied wrongdoing, calling the investigations politically motivated.
Gov. Greg Abbott has also signed legislation this year which he said would prevent similar developments by banning so-called “Sharia compounds” in Texas. The new law removes certain religious exemptions under the Texas Fair Housing Act for organizations that own more than 25 acres, making it illegal to limit property sales to members of a single religion or to impose religious restrictions on resale.
Abbott has accused EPIC City’s backers of attempting to create a community governed by Sharia law, calling the development “religious segregation disguised as religious liberty.”
Under that new law, the attorney general has additional authority to enforce the statute through the Deceptive Trade Practices Act and to bar developers found in violation from forming new special districts or using public funds.
