Utah Man Sentenced to 180 Months for $89M Investment Fraud Case
On September 2, 2026, Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah sentenced Matthew Shane Perkins for his role in defrauding Utahns and others for his role in an $89 million investment fraud scheme. Judge Allen ultimately sentenced Perkins to 180 months (15 years) in prison and ordered $77,683,091.96 in restitution. Federal prosecutors sought a 15-year prison term and three years of supervised release for Matthew Shane Perkins for his role in the investment scheme.
Mechanics of the Trading Scheme and Misappropriation of Funds
Perkins amassed investor funds with the help of his business partner, Jeffrey Jace Vernon, the manager of RentDue LLC. Because of Perkins’ former failed solar business, Vernon functioned as the face of the operation, and told investors that their investments would be used for active options trading Between August 2023 and November 2025, Perkins secured approximately $89 million from more than 200 investors. The vast majority of these individuals were recruited by Jace Vernon on behalf of RentDue LLC, which operated under an arrangement in which funds raised by RentDue were transferred directly to Perkins for active trading.
To sustain investor capital flow, Perkins routinely provided falsified internal accounting records and fabricated brokerage statements to Vernon, who subsequently transmitted them to investors. These documents showed exceptional trading performance, falsely reporting astonishing profits over $133 million. In reality, through Vernon’s bespoke trading strategy, he actually lost $77,683,091.96 in investors funds. Along with his losses, Perkins diverted millions of dollars in investor capital toward personal expenditures, including real estate, a cabin, luxury vehicles, an airplane, and an $80,000 guided hunt in British Columbia. The operation ended with less than $13 million remaining in investor funds.
Prior Regulatory Sanctions and Concealment of Identity
This was not Perkins’ first interaction with Utah’s government regulators. Court filings show Perkins was co-founder and co-CEO of Legend Solar, LLC. In April 2018, the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing issued an order revoking the company’s contractor license based on findings that the entity obtained its license by misrepresentation or omission and failed to maintain financial responsibility. The Utah Division of Consumer Protection also took action against Legend Solar for deceptive business practices. Perkins subsequently filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.
Aware that this prior business collapse and regulatory discipline would deter prospective investors, Perkins and Vernon entered into an agreement to omit Perkins’s last name from all investor recruitment activities for RentDue Capital. This arrangement concealed his history of financial failures and allowed the fraudulent activity to continue undetected by incoming investors over a two-year period.
Reporting Potential Investment Fraud
Protecting your financial future starts with informed decisions and recognizing disguised gambling schemes. Before giving money or opening an account, verify that any promoter or firm is registered with state or federal regulators through the Utah Division of Securities or through FINRA BrokerCheck. You can also search the Utah White Collar Crime Registry to ensure individuals have no prior fraud convictions. If you suspect an investment scam or encounter unregistered solicitation in Utah, contact the Utah Division of Securities at [email protected] or file a complaint online at commerce.utah.gov/securities.
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