A Wisconsin investment scheme ended with a guilty plea and a rented warehouse full of snowmobiles.
Federal prosecutors said Stanley Pophal, 64, of Wausau, pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Madison to wire fraud and money laundering after defrauding 190 investors out of $14.25 million, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Wisconsin.
The investors were promised opportunities tied to cryptocurrency, real estate flipping, artificial intelligence technology, gold, silver, and emeralds. Instead, prosecutors said Pophal used investor money to fund his lifestyle, pay his mortgage, rent a private plane, and buy snowmobiles, motorcycles, and vehicles.
Law enforcement later seized more than 600 items bought with investor funds, including hundreds of snowmobiles stored in a rented warehouse, DOJ said.
Stanley Pophal, 64, Wausau, Wisconsin, pleaded guilty Friday to defrauding investors out of millions of dollars in an investment fraud scheme.
— FBI Milwaukee (@FBIMilwaukee) June 13, 2026
The Investment Pitch Promised at Least 20%
According to court documents cited by DOJ, Pophal used the business name Bright with Silver, Inc., formerly DBA Fromm Bros., Inc., between May 2019 and June 2025. He offered investors several supposed investment lanes, including cryptocurrency, real estate flipping, artificial intelligence technology, gold, silver, and emeralds.
Prosecutors said most investors signed contracts styled as promissory notes that guaranteed returns of at least 20%. DOJ said Pophal also told investors he could secure high returns because he had connections in finance, commodities, and real estate.
Pophal Claimed Their Principal Was Safe
The safety pitch was part of the sale. Prosecutors said Pophal told investors their principal was not at risk because he had enough personal wealth to repay them if the investments failed.
DOJ said those claims of past business success were exaggerated, his claims of vast personal wealth were false, and he never had enough money to personally guarantee each investor’s principal. Prosecutors said the money was not being handled the way investors had been led to believe.
New Investor Money Paid Earlier Investors
Pophal made “ponzi” payments to earlier victims, prosecutors said. Those payments were described to investors as returns or interest, but DOJ said the money actually came from newer investors.
IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Adam Jobes said Pophal used new victims’ money to keep the scheme alive while financing a lifestyle he could not afford. The scheme drew in 190 investors before the guilty plea, according to DOJ’s current case figures.
DOJ Says the Money Funded Snowmobiles, Vehicles, and Travel
DOJ said Pophal used investor money for personal and business expenses, personal travel, mortgage payments, private-plane rental, snowmobiles, motorcycles, and vehicles.
FBI Milwaukee Special Agent in Charge Alan Karr said Pophal spent victims’ money on his personal life and hobbies, including his mortgage and hundreds of snowmobiles. Law enforcement agents seized more than 600 items Pophal bought with investor funds, including hundreds of snowmobiles stored in a rented warehouse, DOJ said.
The Snowmobiles Will Be Forfeited
As part of his plea agreement, Pophal agreed to forfeit the items seized during the investigation. DOJ said a public auction of the assets will occur later, and the guilty-plea release includes two photos from the warehouse where the snowmobiles were stored.
Pophal is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley on Sept. 2, 2026.
The FBI posted a victim-information page in August 2025 seeking possible victims of Pophal and Bright with Silver. At that stage, the FBI said more than 130 investors had invested more than $17 million with Pophal and his company in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Florida, Texas, Arizona, Indiana, California, and elsewhere.