Robison Found Guilty of Wire Fraud, Money Laundering in Federal Jury Trial

AUSTIN, Texas - A federal jury convicted an Austin man Wednesday of wire fraud and money laundering, announced U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, John Stuart Robison, 63, convinced an investor to pay $1 million into a business bank account controlled solely by Robison. Robinson represented the money would go to benefit the University of Austin. The money was to be kept in an escrow account unless and until Robison raised an additional $1 million.

As part of the scheme, Robison lied to the investor about land that Robison controlled or had under option. Robison also presented false option contracts for property and claimed that all monies spent on the project were from Robison's personal accounts.

One day after the money was wired into the business account, Robison fraudulently transferred $250,000 into another of his bank accounts. This money was used to benefit Robison rather than the University of Austin. Within a few months of the receipt of the wired funds, Robison had essentially spent the entire $1 million.

Robison was indicted on Nov. 18, 2025, and arrested Nov. 21. Now convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison for the one count of wire fraud and up to 10 years in prison for the money laundering charges.

The FBI and Austin Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dan Guess and Britni Verdeja prosecuted the case.

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