'Shark Tank' Star Speaks out Amid Fraud Allegations, Lawsuit

Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary, a.k.a. Mr. Wonderful, has spoken out regarding the fraud allegations laid against him as well as a lawsuit. He claims someone has stolen his identity in an attempt to fraud hundreds of entrepreneurs out of money by using two crowd-funding businesses, InventureX and Ideazon, as an empty front. O'Leary has denied all of the claims, calling the case "a brazen scam." "It appears that someone has been using my name and likeness without my knowledge, permission, or consent. I've never heard of any of these purported companies and have never conducted business with any of the plaintiffs who filed this suit," he said in a statement. 

He continued, adding that he's looking into the situation as well. "Obviously, I want to get to the bottom of it too, as my rights have been violated. We will make sure that the bad actors are held accountable." O'Leary, as well as his Shark Tank co-star Kevin Harrington, have been named in a lawsuit that claims dozens of business owners were tricked into lining the two TV star's pockets under false pretenses. The attorneys representing the group of victims aren't believing his identity theft claims. Attorney Tre Lovell of the Lovell Firm released a statement to RadarOnline saying: "The statements of Mr. O'Leary came directly from videos where he discusses both InventureX and Ideazon, and specifically endorses principals of each company, by name. The transcriptions of each video are in the complaint."

 According to the suit, the victims are complaining that they sent in money in support of these businesses after they were endorsed by the Shark Tank vets, but they "turned out to be nothing less than facades designed to lure in unsuspecting victims, extract their money and then virtually disappear under the guise of delays, minimal to no performance, and no results." The victims claim they "were lured by the involvement, endorsement and credibility of Shark Tank stars Kevin Harrington and Kevin O'Leary," and "bought into the dream, paid their money, and then went through agonizing months, if not years, of frustration and distress of trying to get their products launched and businesses started with no results." "Ultimately, once the scam was revealed, these victims spent more agonizing frustration trying to get their money back to receive just more lies and deception,"  the suit reads.