Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, has announced the unsealing of a criminal complaint against Stanley Pophal, 63, from Wausau, Wisconsin. Pophal is charged with wire fraud and money laundering. He was arrested on Saturday and appeared in federal court yesterday where he was detained pending further proceedings.
The complaint alleges that starting in 2019, Pophal solicited investments by selling promissory notes with purportedly guaranteed returns. To attract investors, he allegedly misrepresented himself as a wealthy businessman. Between May 2019 and March 2025, Pophal reportedly received over $15 million from at least 120 investors.
Further allegations state that instead of investing the majority of the funds, Pophal used them to support an extravagant lifestyle, including purchasing more than 300 snowmobiles. Additionally, it is alleged that he used new investor funds to make “lulling payments” to previous investors to create the illusion of earning investment returns.
The charges result from investigations conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Wegner is prosecuting the case.
“You are advised that a charge is merely an accusation,” states the announcement, emphasizing that any defendant named in a criminal complaint or indictment is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
