An East Texas real estate mogul allegedly made millions of dollars selling Texas land to a Chinese billionaire with ties to the Communist Party of China.
David Frankens of Lufkin allegedly sold 130,000 acres of land to Sun Guangxin, a former captain in the Chinese military, at twice the market value, local realtors told the Daily Mail. Guangxin bought the land in Val Verde County for an estimated $110 million between 2016 and 2018. However, after facing pressure from Texas ranchers, Guangxin has allegedly begun selling off the land.
James King, a local realtor and ranch owner, said that the Lufkin sold the land to Guangxin for twice the going rate.
“You could call it the deals of the century,” he said, per the Daily Mail. “I would go ‘wow,’ he got that deal done and then it was just one after another after another.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s a very honorable way to make a living, because it’s sneaky,” King claimed.
Land deeds reviewed by the Daily Mail show Frankens purchased properties from landowners and flipped them to Guangxin sometimes within a day, including one property flipped within three hours.
King claimed the Frankens’ business deals betrayed Texas.
“How dare you bring this man into our neighborhood of really solid landowners who care about the land and where some families have spent six generations out here,” King said, according to the Daily Mail.
Frankens denied the allegations of unethical business dealings in a statement provided to Forbes in 2021.
“I think these accusations are based on fear,” Frankens said, per Forbes. “In my dealings with [Sun Guangxin], he has always done exactly what he said he would do and has shown himself to be a generous, hospitable man. I have visited the property on several occasions and have never seen any indication of any nefarious or questionable activities. I consider him a friend.”
Guangxin had allegedly opened a branch of the Communist Party of China within his business in the 1990s, according to the book Eurasian Crossings: A History of Xinjiang, as reported by the Daily Mail.
Between 2016 and 2018, Guangxin reportedly bought 7% of all the land in Val Verde County in order to build a 46-turbine wind farm on a 15,000-acre ranch. Local residents worried the wind farm would provide access to the state electric grid, per the Daily Mail.
Such circumstances led Gov. Greg Abbott in 2021 to sign the Lone Star Infrastructure Act, which bans businesses from “hostile nations” from being able to access state infrastructure.
Guangxin later sold the 15,000-acre ranch, reported the Daily Mail. He is allegedly expected to sell his other Texas properties as well.
