The Tim Barton SEC case did not begin in 2022. It began in 2017 with a real estate introduction that would produce a federal enforcement action, a parallel criminal prosecution, three Fifth Circuit appeals, a Supreme Court petition, and a receivership that has liquidated over $100 million in assets without returning a dollar to anyone. This is the complete Barton receivership timeline, sourced from the court record and defense memoranda. For the full case analysis, read Barton v. SEC: How a Dallas Developer Lost Everything.
How to Read This Timeline
Every entry includes the date, what happened, and the source. Civil case entries are marked [CIVIL]; criminal case entries [CRIMINAL]; appellate entries [APPEAL]; whistleblower-related entries [WHISTLEBLOWER]; bankruptcy entries [BANKRUPTCY]. Where filings characterize motive, the attribution is noted.
2017 — The Introduction
June 2017 — Barton meets Steve Wall, a Texas homebuilder, who introduces him to Michael “Haoqiang” Fu, a Chinese national selling homes to Chinese investors. Barton is brought in as a fee developer — not in sales, fundraising, or investor relations.
September 2017 — Barton becomes fee developer for Seagoville (the first Wall project), then Wall009 and others. All land acquisitions are made by Wall; funds come through Fu’s Chinese co-lender channels.
December 2017 — Haibo Jiang (a/k/a Hi Boa Jang) was introduced as Fu’s financial partner — later identified in defense materials as a potential CCP intelligence officer using proxy remitters.
2018 — The Wall Entities Expand
2018 — Wall makes his wife a 50% partner in Carnegie Development LLC due to ongoing lawsuits. Fu cannot be a partner (Green Card complications). Barton becomes custodian under an arrangement to return custody to Wall once litigation resolves.
January–April 2018 — Wall010, Lost Creek, Wall011, and Wall012 launched. Funding shortages plague each project.
Throughout 2018 — Unsecured co-lender agreements with Chinese nationals fund the Wall entities. Wall007 through Wall019 ultimately raise approximately $26 million from ~100 Chinese co-lenders. No project was fully funded. [SEC Complaint]
2019 — The Whistleblower Year
September 3, 2019 — [WHISTLEBLOWER] All parties execute a comprehensive Term Sheet offering three repayment options, requiring lenders to provide Tax IDs, wire records, and wiring instructions. Fu refuses KYC documentation — compliance would expose the proxy-remitter scheme evading China’s $50,000 annual foreign exchange cap.
2019 (twice) — [WHISTLEBLOWER] Barton retains Guidepost Solutions and reports Fu’s suspected money laundering to DHS and the FBI in Washington and Dallas. Authorities decline to act. Barton’s mediation attorney also briefs SEC investigator Jason Braun.
2019 — [BANKRUPTCY] Fu files Chapter 7 against the Wall entities (Case No. 20-31131-hdh7). Fu and Wall also created Wall020 — continuing the same business model after Barton severed ties.
2020 — COVID, Conspiracy, and the 2999 Turtle Creek Trap
January 2020 — Vipin Nambiar and partner Glasgow purchase the $8M B-piece of the Madison Capital loan on 2999 Turtle Creek, acquiring springing control rights upon any default.
February 2020 — COVID closes tax offices. Madison Capital agrees that no payment is needed (Barton holds $1.5M in escrow). Nambiar uses the technical default to exercise springing control and initiate foreclosure.
2020 — [BANKRUPTCY] Chapter 7 dismissed: 65 Chinese petitioning creditors defy Judge Harlin D. Hale’s deposition orders. None appear under oath. None file proof of claim.
2021 — Pressure and the Arrest Setup
2021 — Madison Capital subpoenaed for 2999 Turtle Creek loan records; sells the full loan to the Hunt family under pressure. Six weeks later, the FBI arrests Barton at 5:00 a.m. — what defense filings call the “Roger Stone treatment.”
2022 — The Year Everything Changed
September 20, 2022 — [CRIMINAL] Federal grand jury in the Northern District of Texas returns indictment against Barton on nine counts — seven counts of wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1343), one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud (§ 1349), one count of securities fraud (15 U.S.C. §§ 78j(b), 78ff). U.S. v. Barton, No. 3:22-cr-00352-K.
September 23, 2022 — [CIVIL] SEC files its Complaint, SEC v. Barton, No. 3:22-cv-02118-X, in N.D. Tex. before Judge Brantley Starr. Same day, the SEC files an Expedited Motion for Appointment of Receiver.
October 2022 — [CIVIL] Judge Starr rejects the SEC’s initial choice of receiver (David Wallace). Instead, Starr appoints Cortney “Cort” C. Thomas of Brown Fox PLLC. Charlene Koonce — Starr’s university fellow from Abilene Christian — is Thomas’s colleague and lead counsel. Ex-clerks of Judge Starr (Tim Wells, Allan Carrillo) join the receiver team.
October 2022 — [CRIMINAL] Michael Fu pleads guilty to one count of sale of unregistered securities. Required to provide “complete and truthful” information. The man Barton reported to DHS in 2019 entered a cooperation posture; the whistleblower became the defendant. [The Real Deal]
November 2022 — [CIVIL] DOJ obtains a one-directional stay: Barton is frozen from responding while the receiver continues generating evidence at estate expense for DOJ’s criminal prosecution.
2022 — [CIVIL] Receiver begins liquidating assets — including Barton’s residence — before any merits hearing. All employees were fired on day one. A federal receivership without meaningful judicial constraint.
2023 — The Fifth Circuit Vacates, Then the Judge Reissues
August 2023 — [APPEAL] The Fifth Circuit vacates the first receivership order (No. 22-11132, Dkt. 152) for lack of evidence and improper application of the Netsphere v. Baron standard. [79 F.4th 573]
2023 — [CIVIL] Judge Starr reissues a substantially identical receivership order (Dkt. 417) without curing the Fifth Circuit’s identified deficiencies. Barton appeals again. The hidden story behind the SEC’s overreach deepens.
December 2023 — [CRIMINAL] Superseding indictment adds Stephen Wall and Saskya Bedoya — filed Christmas Eve.
2023 — [CIVIL] Fire-sale liquidations continue: DLP settlement ($40M assets for ~$750K), HNGH settles for $2.5M against a property worth $72M, Frisco, Rock Creek, Amerigold Suites. The pattern of commercial property in receivership dispositions at pennies on the dollar.
2024 — The Receiver Sues the Family and the Lawyers
2024 — [CIVIL] Receiver sues Barton’s defense attorneys (immediately staying the cases to create conflicts of interest), daughter Victoria Barton (a Trump Administration official) for $22K, son Max Barton for $60K, and ex-wife (later dismissed).
May 2024 — [APPEAL] Barton files second Fifth Circuit appeal, now represented by Michael J. Edney.
Throughout 2024 — Receiver auctions Lost Creek, Beryl Artz Bypass Trust assets, 2999 Turtle Creek contents, Illinois property. Receivership real estate dispositions continue.
2025 — The Affirmance, the Petition, and the Amicus Coalition
April 17, 2025 — [APPEAL] Fifth Circuit affirms the second receivership (No. 23-11237). Two judges decide; the third recuses. Judge Don Willett — previously clerked for by Judge Starr — holds loan agreements ARE securities under Howey. Reassignment denied. [Fifth Circuit Opinion; Bloomberg Law]
May 23, 2025 — [APPEAL] Fifth Circuit denies en banc rehearing.
2025 — [CIVIL] Third receivership order issued, this time with sanctions on Barton for filing bar complaints. The receiver moves against defense lawyers Michael Edney and Warren Norred, demanding disclosure of defense financing under a protective order Judge Starr grants.
August 7, 2025 — [CIVIL] SEC civil case administratively closed. [Case Overview, p. 19]
October 14, 2025 — [APPEAL] Certiorari petition filed (No. 25-465) by Michael J. Edney, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP — raising Appointments Clause violations, due process, and SEC circumvention of bankruptcy procedures. SCOTUS appeal analysis.
November 17, 2025 — [APPEAL] Nine amicus briefs filed: NCLA, Texas AG Ken Paxton, Project Veritas, ten Libertarian Party affiliates, Young Americans for Liberty/Savannah Chrisley/Private Property Rights Institute, U.S. Congressional Representatives, Bitcoin Foundation, Open-Source AI Foundation, Rio Grande Foundation. [Case Overview, pp. 29–30]
2026 — SCOTUS Declines, Rehearing Petition Filed, Trial Approaches
March 30, 2026 — [APPEAL] SCOTUS denies certiorari in Barton v. SEC, No. 25-465. Petitioner has filed a rehearing petition on April 24th, 2026.
November 2026 — [CRIMINAL] DOJ criminal trial scheduled in U.S. v. Barton (postponed from earlier dates). [DOJ Memo, §III.C]
What This Timeline Shows
Four years of process has become the punishment. The man who pled guilty — Fu — cooperates. The alleged “victims” have never appeared in any U.S. proceeding. The receiver has liquidated over $100 million for ~$2–3 million, billed millions in fees, and returned nothing to anyone. The whistleblower is the defendant.
Every phase reflects structural failure: of federal receivership law, of parallel civil-criminal enforcement, of judicial impartiality. For the complete case analysis, read Barton v. SEC: How a Dallas Developer Lost Everything.
The criminal trial is set for November 2026. Read the full story at Barton v. SEC: How a Dallas Developer Lost Everything, explore what a court receivership is, and learn how receivership in Texas intersects with state constitutional protections.