“Shark Tank” stars Kevin O’Leary and Kevin Harrington are being accused of running a scam.
Twenty hopeful entrepreneurs are suing the famous business investors for fraud, claiming they were manipulated and defrauded through the alleged use of “fictional executives, false promises of financial success, and even illusions of being on the show ‘Shark Tank’ itself,’” claims the lawsuit, obtained by Entertainment Tonight.
The documents further claim O’Leary and Harrington used a “predatory fraud scheme” to have their alleged victims hire one of two companies, InventureX or Ideazon.
The wannabe entrepreneurs claim they were promised they’d receive help for crowdfunding once they paid either company, but after giving up their funds they allegedly never received the assistance.
The alleged victims also claim in the documents that InventureX and Ideazon might not even really exist and alleged that they could both be a front for scamming upstart investors.
Harrington, 64, is “a partner and primary executive of InventureX,” and O’Leary, 67, allegedly “endorsed and recommended” the same two companies, according to the documents.
The entrepreneurs who filed the suit claim that their losses could be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars per plaintiff. The lawsuit is asking for Harrington and O’ Leary to pay for damages, economic loss, emotional distress and legal fees.
O’Leary has been on “Shark Tank” since 2009, while Harrington appeared regularly in the first two seasons of the show.
Reps for O’Leary and Harrington didn’t immediately return Page Six’s request for comment.
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