Financial fraud includes activities like embezzlement, insider trading, and accounting fraud, inflicts substantial harm on society. It distorts the transparency and efficiency of financial markets, leading investors and regulators to make decisions based on false information, which can destabilize entire economic systems. The direct victims of financial fraud—ranging from individual investors to large corporations—can face devastating financial losses, potentially wiping out life savings or crippling business operations.
How Three Tax Professionals Defrauded the IRS of $22 Million TL;DR >Three tax professionals (Michael Kohn, Catherine Chollet, and David Simmons) operated a fraudulent scheme called the “Gain Elimination Plan” for over 11 years. >The scheme fabricated business expense deductions…
TL;DR From March 2022 to February 2026, Trevor L. Vernon and his firm, Argent Capital Management, LLC, raised $14.8 million from more than 60 investors for a commodity pool called Argent Capital Partners, LP. Vernon sent fabricated performance summaries, monthly…
TL;DR A federal appeals court vacated the bribery-related convictions of former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore and longtime ComEd lobbyist Michael McClain on June 15, 2026, and stated explicitly it is not ruling on their innocence. The underlying scheme ran for…
TL;DR Nathan Fuller, founder of Privvy Investments, LLC (Cypress, Texas), raised $12.3 million from approximately 150 investors across nine states and two foreign countries between October 2022 and mid-2024 by selling what he called joint-venture interests in a crypto asset…
EvilCorporations.com • Case No. 3:26-cv-02672 • SEC v. RYVYL, Inc., Fredi Nisan, and Benzion Errez • Estimated Reading Time: 6.7 minutes TL;DR RYVYL Inc., its CEO Fredi Nisan, and its board chairman Benzion Errez are accused by the SEC of…
Securities Fraud Investigation • U.S. District Court, S.D. Texas EvilCorporations.com • Case No. 4:26-cv-2721, S.D. Texas • Estimated Reading Time: 6.7 minutes TL;DR From August 2022 through January 2024, Aaron Verdugo and his companies BDaaSWorx and BDaaS Inc. raised $6.67…
EvilCorporations.com • Case 1:26-cv-03967 • Northern District of Illinois • Filed April 9, 2026 • 6.7 min read TL;DR Who: CleanChoice Energy, Inc. (a Maryland-based “alternative retail energy supplier”) is the defendant in a proposed class action brought by plaintiff…
EvilCorporations.com • Case No. 1:26-cv-23237 (S.D. Fla.) • Estimated reading time: 6.7 minutes TL;DR The SEC filed suit on May 7, 2026 against Reign Financial International and six individual defendants for running three fraudulent “high-yield investment programs” that raised over…
EvilCorporations.com • Case No. 8:26-cv-00993 | SEC v. Gianoplus Consortia LLC, Michael Peter Gianoplus, and Traci Leigh Bransford-Marquis | U.S. District Court, M.D. Florida • Estimated reading time: 6.7 minutes TL;DR From March 2021 through at least January 2025, Michael…
EvilCorporations.com • Case No. 3:26-cv-00308, E.D. Va. • Estimated Reading Time: 6.9 minutes TL;DR Capital One is facing a federal class action lawsuit filed April 15, 2026, accusing it of canceling earned credit card rewards the moment it closes a…