Raging Bull Faces FTC Fraud Allegations

The Federal Trade Commission is suing RagingBull.com and its co-founders Jeffrey Bishop and Jason Bond, accusing the company of defrauding customers. 

What Happened: In a Monday court filing, the FTC accused Raging Bull of stealing more than $137 million from its customers in the last three years.

Raging Bull has reportedly doubled down on its efforts in 2020 including sending out a newsletter claiming to have found a “hidden bull market” during the early 2020 coronavirus pandemic sell-off, according to the court filing. 

Related Link: One Theme Is Popping Up Among These Chinese Companies: Fraud

Why It’s Important: The company recently partnered with well known names Jose Canseco of the MLB and Jordan Belfort who was made famous by the film “Wolf of Wall Street.” Belfort and Canseco are are not accused of wrongdoing related to their ties with Raging Bull. 

Raging Bull was founded in 2014 and says it has thousands of subscribers. The FTC said it has banking records confirming that Bond and Bishop have been collecting millions of dollars per month from customers.

At least 220 customers have filed complaints with the FTC, including claims that refund requests were denied and subscription cancellations were difficult.

The FTC said Bond and Bishop have incurred “substantial and persistent losses” from their stock and option trades, contrary to their claims that they have “made millions in the stock market.” Instead, the FTC alleges that Raging Bull’s primary source of income is customer subscription fees.

“They go out of their way to falsely create larger-than-life personas as highly sought after trading geniuses who are living the high life off their trading prowess,” FTC lawyers wrote.

Benzinga’s Take: If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Investors should always be skeptical of wild claims of people getting rich overnight in the market.

Many of the claims made by market experts, such as the claim that Bond was a former gym teacher who eliminated $250,000 in debt by trading stocks, should be approached with skepticism.