Three scammers behind the 8 Figure Dream Lifestyle pyramid scheme have been criminally charged.

  • Alex Dee, aka Alex Dowlatshahi, was arrested in Washington on January 10th, 2024
  • Brian Kaplan was arrested in Colorado on October 2nd, 2023
  • Jerrold Maurer, aka Jerry Maurer, was arrested at an unknown date

Dee, Kaplan and Maurer were all indicted in Colorado last year.

Dee was indicted on November 7th and Kaplan was indicted on October 2nd. Maurer’s case still appears to be under seal.

Although Dee’s and Kaplan’s indictments were ordered unsealed, at time of publication they remain sealed.

Pending clerical unsealing of the respective cases, we turn to a January 12th press-release from the DOJ.

From January 2017 through June 2019, Dee allegedly ran 8FDL as a pyramid scheme.

Dee and his co-conspirators allegedly recruited participants through emails, robocalls, promotional videos, and webinars.

They allegedly told consumers that 8FDL was a legitimate business with real products and lied to prospective members about how much money they could make, how much others who had joined 8FDL had made, and the ongoing costs associated with the business.

In fact, the vast majority of people who joined 8FDL never made any money.

  • Alex Dee has been charged with four counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud
  • Brian Kaplan and Jerrold Maurer have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud

Both Kaplan and Maurer have already pled guilty to their charges. Sentencing has yet to be scheduled but each faces up to five years in prison.

If convicted, Alex Dee is facing up to twenty years per count (five counts total).

8 Figure Dream Lifestyle criminal charges follow civil regulatory action from the FTC in 2019. The FTC’s case was settled for $31.9 million in 2020.

BehindMLM reviewed 8 Figure Dream Lifestyle in 2017, correctly identifying it as an illegal gifting scheme.

In 2018, Dee claimed “close to $30 million” had passed through the scam. 8 Figure Dream Lifestyle would go on to collapse later that same year.

 

Update 17th January 2024 – Jerry Maurer’s case has been unsealed but Dee’s and Kaplan’s indictment/information filings remain under seal.

Of note is Maurer’s unsealed information filing citing a fourth 8 Figure Dream Lifestyle co-conspirator.

 

Update 17th March 2024 – Jerrold Maurer’s and Brian Kaplan’s sentencing has been scheduled for December 16th, 2024.

Alex Dee pled not guilty to all charges at his late February arraignment. Dee is currently scheduled to face trial in October 2024.