RadioShack Owners Accused of Running a Ponzi Scheme

When the RadioShack brand was acquired in 2020 by Retail Ecommerce Ventures, LLC, the company shifted gears into a new direction, cryptocurrency. Using Twitter, now X, as its main base of messaging, the RadioShack account rapidly became outwardly controversial and hostile in order to generate eyeballs and attention. It was quite successful and piqued my curiosity to the point that it ended up on deBanked in 2021.

At the time the company said “RadioShack DeFi is focused on the early majority. It will become the first to market with a 100 year old brand name that’s recognized in virtually all 190+ countries in the world.”

When I actually inquired about information on its new DeFi platform, all I received was a digital coupon for a boombox…

But the party seemed to come to an end and the account stopped tweeting on November 17, 2022.

Now, according to the SEC, it has been revealed that the owners of RadioShack and other defunct brand names had been conducting a ponzi scheme precisely through November 2022.

Taino Adrian Lopez, Alexander Farhang Mehr, and Maya Rose Burkenroad, were charged this week for running a $112M ponzi scheme. Apparently, none of the household brand names they acquired were generating any profits, but they claimed to investors that they were in order to raise capital. “Consequently, in order to pay interest, dividends and maturing note payments, Defendants resorted to using a combination of loans from outside lenders, merchant cash advances, money raised from new and existing investors, and transfers from other portfolio companies to cover obligations,” the SEC claims.

In addition to RadioShack, the accused operated Brahms, Linens ‘N Things, Modell’s, Stein Mart, and Pier 1 Imports.

Full complaint can be read here.