Who footed the bill for Ariel Milby's lavish, over-the-top, "Sweet 16" bash? Chances are, it wasn't her father, Gary, but rather, the hundreds of folks — many of them senior citizens — whom he allegedly swindled out of millions of dollars, by way of fraudulent investments in faux oil-and-gas limited partnerships.

In a lawsuit filed in September by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the government agency responsible for enforcing federal securities laws and regulating the securities industry and stock market), Milby is alleged to have diverted at least $12 million in investors' funds into offshore accounts and family trusts. The cash was also used, the SEC said, to fund the Milbys' extravagant lifestyle and child-support payments.

According to the SEC's complaint, Milby and his company, Mid-America Energy, Inc., carried out a fraudulent oil-and-gas investment scheme that tricked nearly 400 people out of more than $19 million. For his alleged violations, the SEC has sought a permanent injunction against the fake oil tycoon, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, a civil money penalty and an account of Milby's finances.

Milby — who faces a single criminal charge for felony fraud in Louisiana — has denied the SEC's charges and maintains his innocence.

"In 2005 and 2006, Milby and Mid-America offered and sold interests in at least 30 oil-and-gas investment programs based on false and misleading information," an SEC statement regarding the complaint read. "[Milby] falsely claimed that the investments were registered with the [SEC] and misrepresented the returns that investors would receive. They provided baseless claims regarding oil production and falsely asserted that Mid-America investors were making huge profits. [Milby] also concealed important information concerning [his] recent personal bankruptcy and his seven-year bar from drilling in Texas."

In addition, Milby failed to "inform investors that several state securities agencies had found the investments to be illegal and ordered [him] to halt the offerings in those states. Instead, [the company] claimed, among other things, that Mid-America was 'leading the way in domestic oil exploration.' The complaint further alleges that [Milby] misrepresented the use of the offering proceeds and the production revenues and misappropriated and misapplied approximately $12 million of the funds raised."

He might have gotten away with it all, had his daughter's 16th birthday party not been featured on MTV's "My Super Sweet 16." The Milbys' episode aired during the show's fourth season, on February 12, 2007.

Ariel's coming-of-age soiree took the fairy-tale theme to glorious new heights. Not only was she gifted a BMW 3 Series, but horse-drawn carriages delivered the party's guests to a castle-like tent, under which jesters frolicked and disco balls oscillated. Ariel arrived in a helicopter, and the festivities were capped with a fireworks display. During the program, viewers learned that Ariel's pop was a successful oilman. The father-and-daughter pair even toured some of his supposed drilling sites, before heading off to a shopping spree. "I love oil," Ariel proclaimed during the episode. "Oil means shoes and cars and purses."

While the show's target audience falls somewhere in the preteen to college-age demographic, Ariel's "Super Sweet" segment also attracted some suspicious government regulators.

"That MTV show really put Milby on the road map," Frank Panepinto, a fraud investigator with the Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions, told the New York Times. "That really got people aggravated with him."

According to the SEC, Milby — who apparently bragged to potential investors that no one had "ever lost money" working with him — used private placement offerings to sell units in limited liability partnerships, managed by two companies he owned, Mid-America Energy and Mid-America Oil and Gas. The money invested was to be used for shallow drilling in Kentucky. Milby told his investors they'd receive monthly checks — some for as much as $4,800 — for 30 to 50 years. None of the people who fell for Milby's scheme ever recouped their entire investments, the Times reported.

Wynne James, a lawyer representing about 75 of Milby's investors in multiple lawsuits, told the paper he's already won more than $5.1 million from legal filings against Milby, but that they've yet to collect a dime from him. Milby's attorney, Hunter Durham, has countered, saying that all relevant information was disclosed to investors before they parted with their cash and that several wells that were drilled did hit oil, resulting in profits for some investors.

Milby, in an interview with the Times, said that one of his former wives paid for Ariel's party and that he had to trade in another car to pay for his daughter's Beemer. "If investors think I'm stealing their money, they're wrong," he said. "I'm broker than a church mouse right now. We spent and spent and spent, and borrowed and borrowed and borrowed, just to keep these wells [which have now been shut down] going."

Milby further maintains that investors did get a return for their investment. "They're lying," he told the paper. "They got the checks, everything we promised to them. But nobody ever gets enough money. Do you? I sent one guy a check for $18,000, and he called up to complain it wasn't $22,000. That's just the way people are."