https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-donor-grant-cardone-fraud-lawsuit-bitcoin-1941244A class action lawsuit targeting Gary Cardone, a prominent donor to former President Donald Trump, has surfaced over allegations of fraud involving his company, Chargebacks911.
Cardone, who recently donated $850,000 worth of Bitcoin to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, is accused alongside co-owner Monica Eaton of engaging in deceptive business practices.
The case, which originated in 2023, was certified as a class action on August 13, 2024, despite the defendants’ repeated attempts to dismiss it.
The plaintiffs, Janet Sihler and Charlene Bavencoff, claim that Chargebacks911 played a key role in enabling fraudulent transactions related to the sale of diet pills by Brightree Holdings Limited.
According to the complaint, Cardone and Eaton allegedly helped Brightree minimize chargeback rates—requests from customers for refunds—by concealing the true scale of customer disputes from banks and credit card companies.
The plaintiffs argue that if financial institutions had known the extent of these chargebacks, they would have stopped processing payments for Brightree.
Legal filings reveal that Chargebacks911 provided services to Brightree from 2019 to 2021 but later terminated the company’s account after it stopped paying its bills.
Cardone’s legal team, led by attorney Corey Roush, insists that Brightree is the real wrongdoer and that the lawsuit is an attempt to “find a deep pocket” following unsuccessful legal actions against Brightree in California.
Roush also stated that Cardone had retired from Chargebacks911 before the lawsuit was initiated.
The defendants have filed three motions to dismiss the case, all of which have been rejected. They have also opposed the class certification, arguing that the case lacks a legal basis.
Despite these challenges, the plaintiffs, represented by Kneupper & Covey, are seeking over $70 million in damages.
The allegations echo previous legal troubles for Chargebacks911. In November 2023, the company reached a $150,000 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Florida’s Attorney General over similar issues involving deceptive screenshots that misled consumers into authorizing payments they had not agreed to.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody criticized Chargebacks911’s practices, calling them “despicable” and a threat to the integrity of financial transactions.
Cardone’s involvement in the lawsuit has drawn attention due to his political contributions. In addition to his recent Bitcoin donation to Trump’s campaign, Cardone has previously supported other Republican candidates, including Vivek Ramaswamy and Arizona’s Kari Lake.
His brother, real estate mogul Grant Cardone, has also been active in Republican fundraising efforts, with his wife, Elena Cardone, even launching a GoFundMe campaign to assist Trump with fines related to his New York civil fraud trial.
As the case moves forward, Chargebacks911 plans to appeal the court’s decision to certify the class action, maintaining that the claims are unfounded and unsupported by evidence.
