‘Shark Tank’ Stars Are Being Sued For Fraud and This Is Our Shocked Face

Shark Tank became a hit reality show by giving budding entrepreneurs a chance to get chiseled by a bunch of avaricious industry tycoons. But now it looks like the show may have jumped from reality TV to plain old reality.

Twenty angry plaintiffs (with more on the way) are suing Kevin O’Leary and Kevin Harrington (hereafter known as The Two Kevins) for running a “predatory fraud scheme” that lured amateur entrepreneurs into dead-end business deals. The suit alleges The Two Kevins bilked startups out of millions of dollars through the use of “fictional executives, false promises of financial success and even illusions of being on the show ‘Shark Tank’ itself.”

Court documents name InventureX and Ideazon as the two shell companies running the fraud, one of which Harrington happens to be “a partner and primary executive of.” The suit also alleges O’Leary personally recommended the two companies and redirected clients there.

The scam worked by promising wannabe entrepreneurs investment funding by leveraging the company’s supposed crowdfunding technology. After entrepreneurs fronted an average of a few hundred grand, they never heard back.

When asked about the lawsuit, O’Leary (a dead ringer for Ebenezer Scrooge) said,  “It appears that someone has been using my name and likeness without my knowledge, permission, or consent. I’ve never heard of any of these purported companies and have never conducted business with any of the plaintiffs who filed this suit.”

Meanwhile, Harrington is currently ghosting everyone. (Not suspicious at all.)

In an era when billionaires are celebrated like saints, it makes sense that everyone wants to join the superyacht party. But if a get-rich-quick scheme falls into your lap and sounds too good to be true, roll the dice anyway. How else are you gonna get out of your parent’s basement and into a million-dollar starter home?

Cover Photo: Craig Sjodin (Getty Images)

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