The Sconi

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 faces charges of wire fraud and money laundering. He was arrested on Saturday and made his initial appearance in federal court yesterday, where he was detained pending further proceedings.

The criminal complaint outlines that since 2019, Pophal allegedly solicited investors to purchase promissory notes with promised guaranteed rates of return. To attract investors, Pophal reportedly misrepresented himself as a wealthy businessman. From May 2019 to March 2025, he is accused of obtaining over $15 million from at least 120 investors.

It is alleged that Pophal did not invest most of the funds received from these investors. Instead, he purportedly used the money to fund an extravagant lifestyle, including buying over 300 snowmobiles. The complaint also claims that Pophal used new investor funds to make "lulling payments" to previous investors to create the illusion of earning returns.

The investigation leading to these charges was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Wegner is handling the prosecution.

It should be noted that a charge is merely an accusation and any defendant in a criminal complaint or indictment is presumed innocent until proven guilty.