People exit the headquarters of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C., on May 12, 2021.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
An Ohio podcast host ran an $11 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 50 investors with false claims of helping them become a “real estate investing badass,” the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged Monday.
Matt Motil described himself as the “Cash Flow King,” according to his social media presence, and promised to help teach investors how to leverage “rental real estate investments to help you get paid and live a lifestyle you actually love.”
But Motil’s self-described success was an elaborate façade, according to regulatory filings and Ohio bankruptcy proceedings. In a 29-page complaint, the SEC laid out how Motil issued “promissory notes” fully collateralized by property across Ohio to dozens of investors. Motil told his investors that those notes were collateralized by “first mortgages” on properties, suggesting that no other investor had a more senior claim to the property, the complaint said.
“Nearly everything about his scheme was a lie,” the financial regulator’s complaint read.
CNBC has reached out to Motil for comment.
In one instance, according to the SEC, Motil managed to get more than $1 million from 20 different investors for just one single-family home valued at no more than $130,000. Motil targeted a wide array of investors, from a cancer researcher to an active-duty U.S. armed forces officer, the complaint alleged.
Motil filed for bankruptcy in March 2022 in Ohio but has evaded the SEC’s administrative subpoenas since then, the regulator said. All the while, Motil relied on social media and his own website to advertise and entice other investors, the regulators said.
Motil and his wife, Amy, profited handsomely from the scheme, the SEC alleged. Motil claimed that the promissory notes would go toward renovating and reselling the properties, a practice commonly known as “flipping.”
Motil also forged signatures and misused a notary’s seal to continue his fraud, the SEC alleged, which is a crime in Ohio. Motil attempted to file for bankruptcy in Ohio in an effort to discharge the money he owes his investors, but his case has been contested by the U.S. Trustee.
Federal regulators have stepped up their scrutiny of smaller-scale scammers who do significant financial harm to investors and the public. Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission leveled civil charges against an Amazon e-commerce “automation” company that defrauded investors out of millions. That case is still proceeding.
Ticket reseller StubHub signage on display at the New York Stock Exchange for the company’s IPO on Sept. 17, 2025.
NYSE
StubHub shares plunged 20% in extended trading on Thursday after the company reported quarterly results for the first time since its initial public offering in September.
Here’s how the ticket vendor did in comparison with LSEG consensus:
Loss per share: $4.27
Revenue: $468.1 million vs. $452 million expected
During a conference call with investors, StubHub CEO and founder Eric Baker said the company wouldn’t provide guidance for the current quarter.
Baker said that the company takes “a long term approach,” adding that the timing of when tickets go on sale can vary, making it hard to predict consumer demand. StubHub plans to offer outlook for 2026 when it reports fourth-quarter results, he said.
“The demand for live events is phenomenal,” Baker said. “We don’t see anything with consumer demand that’s any different.”
Revenue increased 8% in its second quarter from $433.8 million a year earlier, the company said.
StubHub reported a net loss of $1.33 billion, or a loss of $4.27 per share, compared to a net loss of $45.9 million, or a loss of 15 cents per share, during the same period last year. StubHub said this reflects a one-time stock-based compensation charge of $1.4 billion stemming from its IPO.
Gross merchandise sales, which represent the total dollar value paid by ticket buyers, rose 11% year over year to $2.43 billion.
The company faced tough comparisons from a year earlier, when results were boosted by Taylor Swift’s massively popular Eras Tour. Excluding that impact, StubHub said GMS grew 24% year over year.
Founded in 2000, StubHub primarily generates revenue from connecting buyers with ticket resellers. It competes with Vivid Seats, which was taken public via a special purpose acquisition company in 2021; SeatGeek; and Ticketmaster parent Live Nation Entertainment.
“We are building a truly differentiated consumer product that improves the experience for fans while unlocking better economics for venues, teams, and artists through open distribution,” Baker said in a statement. “We’re early in that journey, but our progress so far gives us great confidence in our strategy and the long-term value we’re creating.”
StubHub raised $800 million in its long-awaited IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, which came after it delayed its debut twice. The most recent stall came in April after President Donald Trump‘s announcement of sweeping tariffs roiled markets. The company restarted the process to go public in August when it filed an updated prospectus.
On Thursday, the company’s stock closed at $18.82. Shares are now down roughly 20% from the IPO price of $23.50.
The Google corporate logo hangs outside the Google Germany offices on August 31, 2021 in Berlin, Germany.
Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Google said on Thursday said it has disrupted the foreign cybercriminal group behind a massive SMS text phishing operation within 24 hours of filing its lawsuit.
“This shut down of Lighthouse’s operations is a win for everyone,” said Google general counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado. “We will continue to hold malicious scammers accountable and protect consumers.”
Google filed the suit early Wednesday, seeking to dismantle the organization that some cyber experts have dubbed the “Smishing Triad,” which used a phishing kit named “Lighthouse” to generate and deploy attacks using fake texts.
The company provided translated Telegram messages allegedly posted by the group’s ringleader.
“Our cloud server has been blocked due to malicious complaints. Please be patient and we will restore it as soon as possible!” one message read.
Another message stated that “The reopening date will be announced separately.”
Google did not provide specifics on how the operation was shut down.
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The crime group had harmed at least 1 million victims across over 120 countries, Google said in a release.
Victims would receive texts containing malicious links to fraudulent websites designed to steal sensitive financial information, including Social Security numbers and banking credentials.
The messages often appeared as fake delivery updates, unpaid fees notifications, fraud alerts, and other texts designed to appear urgent.
“They were preying on users’ trust in reputable brands such as E-ZPass, the U.S. Postal Service, and even us as Google,” DeLaine Prado previously told CNBC.
The company said that it found over 100 templates generated by Lighthouse using the company’s branding to trick victims into thinking the sites were legitimate.
Tesla is recalling around 10,500 units of its Powerwall 2, a backup battery for residential use, according to a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission disclosure out Thursday.
“The lithium-ion battery cells in certain Powerwall 2 systems can cause the unit to stop functioning during normal use, which can result in overheating and, in some cases, smoke or flame and can cause death or serious injury due to fire and burn hazards,” the CPSC recall notice said.
While Elon Musk‘s electric vehicle and clean energy company blamed the issue on a “third-party battery cell defect,” it did not name the supplier.
The recall notice said Tesla previously received 22 customer reports of the Powerwall 2 overheating, including five fires resulting in “minor property damage,” but no known injuries.
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Tesla’s Powerwall products are sold via its Energy division, along with giant, backup batteries that are built for utility-scale projects and use at large business facilities.
The Powerwalls work with Tesla’s solar photovoltaics, or solar rooftops, and can store electricity in a home for use at a later time, including during blackouts or during days or hours when electricity prices are higher.
In a separate notice on Tesla’s website, the company emphasized that the issue does not affect owners of newer model Powerwall systems, specifically Powerwall 3. The company website also said, “all affected units are being replaced at no cost to customers.”
Tesla’s biggest growth engine in the third quarter of 2025 came from its energy division, which sells Powerwalls. Tesla Energy saw revenue jump 44% to $3.42 billion in the third quarter, and as of the end of September, its energy segment represented about one-quarter of Tesla’s overall revenue.
Tesla shares fell by more than 7% on Thursday. Representatives for Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
