Las Vegas attorney pleads guilty to wire fraud in multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme
Summary
Matthew Beasley, a Las Vegas lawyer, pleaded guilty on 23 October 2025 to five counts of wire fraud tied to a Ponzi scheme that federal prosecutors say solicited more than $519 million from investors between 2017 and 2022. Beasley has been in custody since an armed standoff with FBI agents in March 2022.
Prosecutors say nearly 950 investors lost more than $245 million. The scheme targeted members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was marketed as high-return lending against insurance settlements and relied on new investor money to pay earlier investors. Beasley is facing criminal and civil actions; the SEC lawsuit against him and associates remains pending.
Key Points
- Beasley pleaded guilty to five counts of wire fraud in federal court on 23 October 2025.
- Officials say the scheme solicited over $519 million from 2017–2022; nearly 950 investors lost about $245 million.
- The fraud allegedly targeted members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was pitched as loans against lawsuit settlements with returns up to 50%.
- Prosecutors allege Beasley used investor funds for gambling (more than $10m to pay debts and $22.8m for further gambling and personal luxuries).
- Beasley could face up to 100 years, but prosecutors agreed not to seek more than 20 years; he agreed not to seek less than 12 years. Sentencing is set for 28 January.
- Money‑laundering counts were initially filed but not resolved in the plea. The SEC has an ongoing civil suit against Beasley, a partner (Jeffrey Judd) and others.
Context and relevance
This case combines large-scale white-collar crime, community-targeted solicitation and both criminal and civil enforcement actions. It highlights how Ponzi schemes can be structured to exploit trust networks and the difficulty of recovering investor losses even after high-profile arrests. For anyone tracking securities enforcement, fraud trends or community-targeted scams, the interaction between DOJ criminal proceedings and the SEC civil case is particularly relevant.
Why should I read this?
Look — this one mattered. It wasn’t just a scam that drained a few savings accounts: hundreds of people lost a lot of money and the scheme used community trust as its hook. If you want a quick picture of how big Ponzi operations run, how prosecutors and the SEC coordinate, and what victims face, this saves you poking through court filings.