Military Medals and a Famous Last Name: How a Con Man Made Off With Millions in Texas

TYLER, Texas—In a city where reverence for the oil fields and veterans runs deep, Derek Hamm made a powerful impression. Six-foot-three with a mountain man’s beard, he wore a jacket festooned with combat medals he said were from Green Beret tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was always accompanied by a service dog to help ease his PTSD, acquaintances recalled.

Charming and well-spoken, Hamm told people he was the favorite nephew of one of the pioneers of fracking, the Oklahoma oil tycoon Harold Hamm, and was amassing his own empire of wells. That pedigree opened doors in East Texas. Hamm was soon drumming up investments at an exclusive country club and hobnobbing with the retired baseball star Mark Teixeira on a private dove hunt. The problem was, virtually everything about Derek Hamm was a lie.

Hamm, 40, was actually a grifter with an encyclopedic memory and a string of criminal convictions, according to federal prosecutors. He had spent a year in Iraq as an Army National Guard infantryman but was no decorated Special Forces soldier. He had no relation to Harold Hamm.

Using a salesman’s wiles, Hamm persuaded people to give him at least $2.28 million for various drilling ventures that never materialized—until the FBI got involved. He pleaded guilty to violating the Stolen Valor Act, which prohibits falsely using military medals to obtain benefits, along with fraud charges.

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Since the first Texas oil gusher hit Spindletop in 1901, the Lone Star State has drawn a long procession of swindlers who have taken advantage of investors dazzled by promises of easy fortune. But the story of Derek Hamm has left those he preyed upon—and authorities—stunned by the extent of his con.

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