A federal judge in St. George, Utah, sentenced Matthew Shane Perkins to 15 years in prison this month for a wire fraud scheme that pulled in at least $89 million from roughly 200 investors. Perkins built his pitch on a reputation as a “savant” trader who almost never had a losing day, and investors sent him their savings on the strength of that story rather than any audited track record. Prosecutors say most of the money was either lost in his own trading or spent on Perkins himself, including on a private airplane.
For anyone who has ever wired money to someone managing an account they never actually got to see, the case is a reminder that confidence and a good story are not proof of results.
A 180-month sentence and a court-ordered $77.7 million debt
U.S. District Court Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen sentenced Perkins, 47, of Washington City, Utah, to 180 months in federal prison on September 3, 2026, along with three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah. The sentence followed a guilty plea to one count of wire fraud. As part of the judgment, Perkins was ordered to pay $77,683,091.96 in restitution to the people who invested with him, the figure prosecutors describe as the outstanding loss after his trading losses and personal spending.
U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak said many of the more than 200 victims “were everyday Americans who lost their lifesavings, all to fund Perkins’ extravagant lifestyle including his private plane, cabin, and luxury cars.” FBI Salt Lake City Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls added that the case reflects the bureau’s commitment to pursuing people who “prey on investors for personal gain.”
Free retirement updates: A quiet rule change can shrink your Social Security or Medicare check, and no one warns you. The free Retirement Shield newsletter catches these early and tells you what to do. Get it free.
Recruited through RentDue Capital, traded through Forged Oak
Between August 2023 and November 2025, Perkins secured approximately $89 million from more than 200 investors. He didn’t recruit most of them directly. Court filings summarized in a Utah Division of Securities investor alert describe a business arrangement between Perkins and Jeffrey Jace Vernon, who managed RentDue Capital LLC and told prospective investors their money would fund active options trading capable of hedge-fund-level returns. RentDue brought investors in through three separate funds, marketed on social media, through the company’s website, and in person, then forwarded what it raised to Perkins’ firm, Forged Oak LLC, for him to trade. The Division’s civil securities case, filed in state court in May 2026, names RentDue Capital, its three fund entities, Forged Oak, Vernon, Perkins, and Perkins’ wife Talease Perkins as defendants.
The arrangement meant that most investors never spoke with Perkins directly. Vernon effectively served as the face of the operation, while Perkins worked in the background as the trader supposedly generating the returns.
Statements claiming $133 million when the real balance was under $13 million
Perkins kept the money flowing by fabricating the numbers investors saw. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s announcement of his guilty plea, Perkins routinely falsified daily trading records and altered brokerage statements to inflate the funds’ reported balance. In one instance in early November 2025, he gave RentDue an altered statement showing more than $133 million in the funds; the funds actually held less than $13 million at the time. Perkins pleaded guilty to wire fraud on February 2, 2026, and agreed in his plea deal to forfeit more than $13 million in cash along with a cabin, an airplane, and multiple vehicles traceable to the fraud.
Why investors never heard the name “Perkins”
Court filings cited by the Utah Division of Securities show this wasn’t Perkins’ first brush with state regulators. He had previously co-founded Legend Solar, LLC, whose contractor license Utah’s Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing revoked in April 2018 over findings that the company obtained its license through misrepresentation and failed to maintain financial responsibility. Utah’s Division of Consumer Protection separately took action against Legend Solar for deceptive practices, and Perkins later filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Knowing that history would scare off investors, Perkins and Vernon agreed to keep Perkins’ last name out of RentDue Capital’s investor recruiting entirely, according to the Division’s account of the sentencing, concealing his record for roughly two years while the fraud continued.
What the money bought
Investigators say Perkins used millions of dollars in investor funds for personal expenses, including a down payment on a home, a cabin, luxury vehicles, and an airplane. Little of the $89 million went toward the trading investors believed they were funding: tens of millions were lost outright in day trading, and much of the rest never touched a market at all.
Before wiring money to a trader, check the registration
The Utah Division of Securities is urging anyone approached with a similar pitch to verify that the promoter is actually registered with state or federal regulators before sending money, either through the Division itself or through FINRA BrokerCheck, and to search the Utah White Collar Crime Registry for prior fraud cases. Perkins was never registered as an investment adviser during the scheme. For an investor chasing hedge-fund-style returns from a manager known mostly through social media and a partner’s introduction, that one check, made before the wire transfer rather than after, is the difference between due diligence and a leap of faith.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Figures are linked to their primary sources; where a claim could not be verified from the public record, we say so.
More Financial Reading
