Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Utah County businessman Jeremiah Evans pleaded guilty to securities fraud and money laundering charges.
- Evans admitted to defrauding 530 victims of approximately $20.9 million through Alpha Influence.
- Sentencing is scheduled for April 3.
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah County entrepreneur has pleaded guilty in federal court to costing hundreds of clients millions of dollars after selling securities illegally.
Jeremiah "The Bull" Joseph Evans was charged Tuesday with securities fraud and money laundering. Evans is the owner of Alpha Influence LLC. "Neither Evans nor Alpha Influence was licensed to offer or sell securities," according to charging documents filed in U.S. district court.
On Thursday, during his initial appearance in federal court, Evans pleaded guilty to both counts. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 3.
From July 2019 through July 2022, Evans "devised and intended to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud investors, and to obtain money and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, promises and omissions of material facts," the charges state. "During the course and scope of the scheme, approximately $20,894,674 was wired or otherwise sent to accounts held in the name of Alpha Influence and controlled by Evans by approximately 530 victims."
In court documents, federal prosecutors allege Evans defrauded victims by making false or misleading statements or leaving out material facts, including:
- Alpha Influence had been operating successfully for years when it had not.
- That the investment would generate consistent, predictable monthly returns when it did not.
- That investment principal would be recouped within 12 to 18 months when it was not.
- That the investment would earn an average of 7%-10% return on investment per month in profit after expenses when it did not.
- That Alpha Influence and Evans had connections with high-ranking Amazon staff at Amazon's corporate headquarters in Seattle who were readily accessible to solve problems that might arise with the Alpha Influence investment when he did not.
- That Alpha Influence employed a legal team to assist with resolving issues for individual investors when it did not.
- Failed to disclose that Alpha Influence was unable to resolve store suspensions and could not get many stores operational after they were shut down for violation of Amazon policies.
- Failed to disclose that several testimonials provided in support of Alpha Influence and the success of the investment offered were made by relatives of Evans or others who received commissions from investor proceeds.
Evans made a $50,000 downpayment on a Lamborghini using the proceeds from the securities fraud, the charges state.
In November, Kole Glen Brimhall, 27, of Orem, admitted to defrauding clients of more than $4.9 million. Brimhall fraudulently sold investments in e-commerce stores through Alpha Influence, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for Utah.
In 2022, Evans hosted Alpha Con in Salt Lake City. A year after the ridiculed conference took place, dozens of complaints began to stack up at the Utah Department of Commerce's Division of Consumer Protection.
Evans, who has his own podcast, describes himself on his website as "a former Division One quarterback and online entrepreneur. He has achieved over $70 million in online sales across seven different industries. … Throughout his career, he has helped over 300 students make their first six-figures online with over 15 of them doing over seven-figures in online sales."
Evans is listed as a quarterback for BYU in 2017 but never played in a game.
