On June 14, 2025, the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office in Wisconsin, with assistance from the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested 63-year-old Wausau, Wisconsin resident Stanley Pophal for running a Ponzi scheme from 2019 to 2025, where:
- he tricked 120 investors into purchasing promissory notes for presumed “high returns.”
- the money collected wouldn’t be used for investments, but rather personal luxury products such as 300 snowmobiles.
- previous investors would be paid with new investors’ money.
Pophal has appeared in federal court and faces serious charges of wire fraud and money laundering,