Michael J. French, a 42-year-old resident of Pendleton, South Carolina, has been sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for orchestrating a Ponzi scheme valued at over $13 million and for cyberstalking two TikTok content creators. The sentence also includes an order to pay more than $14 million in restitution.
“French built his scheme on lies, stealing millions from hard-working investors to fund luxury cars and real estate,” said U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling for the District of South Carolina. “When the fraud collapsed, he turned dangerous—harassing and threatening women, showing up at their homes, and ultimately forcing a standoff with law enforcement. This case shows just how far financial crime can go when fueled by greed and deception. Today’s sentence makes clear: if you defraud and endanger others, you will be held accountable.”
“French’s actions hurt many investors who put their trust in him,” said Kevin Moore, special agent in charge of the FBI Columbia Field Office. “Rather than honoring that trust, he exploited it to fund his own lavish lifestyle and to spiral into harassing social media content creators. The FBI remains steadfast in exposing schemes that prey on innocent people, and we will continue to protect the integrity of our financial systems by upholding the rule of law.”
Court records show that French owned MJF Holdings, LLC and MJF Capital, LLC. Starting in March 2019, he offered promissory notes through these companies promising annual returns of 12%. He told investors their money would be used for loans to small businesses and claimed expertise in the financial industry. French also assured investors he would not receive compensation unless they earned more than the guaranteed return.
However, investigators found these claims were false. French was using funds from new investors to pay earlier ones because his investment product was not producing returns. This practice led investors to believe the investments were successful while French spent investor money on personal expenses such as luxury vehicles, classic cars, a boat, multiple properties, and significant payments—sometimes up to $40,000 per day—to female TikTok content creators.
After some of these content creators stopped communicating with him, French began harassing them using burner phones and fake email accounts. He made threats claiming violent capabilities and traveled unannounced to one woman’s home where she hid with her child until police intervened.
French was later arrested following a standoff with law enforcement during which he barricaded himself in a hotel room armed with a firearm before surrendering after negotiations with FBI hostage negotiators.
United States Chief Judge Timothy M Cain imposed a sentence of 156 months imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release. Restitution totaling $14,750,990 was ordered.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI Columbia Field Office and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Bill Watkins prosecuted the case.
