The headline refers to allegations about Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV), the former owner of RadioShack—not a finding of fraud against the brand’s current owner. CBS News reported that the SEC filed a civil complaint on September 22, 2025, naming REV and its founders, Tai Lopez and Alex Mehr. The claims described in that report remain allegations; it does not establish that a court has found the defendants liable.
What did the SEC allege?
According to CBS News’s September 2025 account of the complaint, the SEC alleged that REV raised approximately $112 million from hundreds of investors between 2020 and 2022 by making misleading claims about the performance of its retail businesses and how investors’ money would be used. REV’s strategy was to acquire distressed brands—including RadioShack, Pier 1 Imports, Modell’s, Dressbarn and Linens ’n Things—and try to operate them online.
CBS reported that the SEC alleged investors were told the portfolio companies were performing strongly and that money raised for a particular company would be spent on that company. The SEC reportedly alleged that some brands generated revenue, but none generated profits. Revenue is money coming in from sales; profit is what remains after expenses. Sales activity, therefore, would not by itself show that a business was profitable.
The report says the SEC alleged REV relied on outside loans, merchant cash advances, new and existing investor funds, and transfers between portfolio companies to meet obligations. It also reported the SEC’s allegation that at least $5.9 million in investor returns were Ponzi-like payments funded by other investors rather than company profits. “Ponzi-like” here describes the SEC’s reported allegation about the source of those payments; it is not a court finding.
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CBS also reported that the SEC alleged Lopez and Mehr allocated $16 million of investments for their own use. These figures—approximately $112 million raised, at least $5.9 million in alleged investor payments, and $16 million allegedly allocated for personal use—are claims attributed to the SEC in news coverage, not established losses, judgments or findings of liability. Read CBS News’s account of the SEC complaint.
Was RadioShack part of the lawsuit?
RadioShack is part of the story because REV acquired the brand in 2020. But CBS News reports that the SEC lawsuit names REV and its founders, not RadioShack’s current owners. The alleged conduct described in the report concerns REV’s fundraising and portfolio-company operations; it should not be recast as an allegation against today’s RadioShack owner.
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A 2022 stockholder letter hosted by the SEC identifies Lopez and Mehr as REV’s founders and lists RadioShack among the brands associated with REV. That filing is historical corporate context; it predates the 2025 complaint and does not substantiate its allegations. View the SEC-hosted 2022 stockholder letter.
Who owns RadioShack now?
CBS News reports that Unicomer Group acquired RadioShack in 2023 and relaunched it as an e-commerce platform in 2024. The same report says the brand’s current owners are not named in the SEC lawsuit. That chronology distinguishes REV’s earlier ownership from the later ownership reported by CBS; the cited materials do not provide an independent update on ownership or the case’s current docket status.
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What is known about the case’s outcome?
The available coverage describes a civil complaint filed by the SEC, which sets out allegations—not proof or a judgment. CBS News’s report does not establish whether a court has since ruled on the claims or what the case’s present procedural status is. Accordingly, the alleged fundraising, use of investor money and payments should be attributed to the SEC, rather than stated as adjudicated facts.
Hackaday also covered the story contemporaneously, including the distinction between REV’s former role and later RadioShack ownership; it is secondary commentary, not the basis for the allegations summarized above. Read Hackaday’s commentary.
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