A Republic man was issued a cease and desist in addition to facing criminal charges following accusations that he swindled people who tried to invest in his business that provided guided hunting tours in southwest Missouri.
Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft's securities division gave the order to Theodore Eddings.
"(Eddings) is required to show cause why civil penalties, restitution, costs and other administrative relief should not be imposed against him after several investors were allegedly defrauded," according to a news release from the secretary.
A man reported that in the summer of 2017 he paid $15,000 to become an investor in Eddings' guided hunting tour company called Black Oak Outfitters, with a promise that Eddings would pay him back in full and then give the man 30 percent of the company's profits thereafter, per court records from News-Leader archives.