Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary and Kevin Harrington sued for fraud

Companies backed by O’Leary and Harrington are suspected of being part of a ‘predatory fraud scheme’

Kevin O’Leary has been an investor on reality television shows ‘Dragons’ Den’ and ‘Shark Tank’ (Getty)

Shark Tank alumni Kevin O’Leary and Kevin Harrington are being accused of defrauding people in a lawsuit filed by 20 people across the US.

The suit alleges that the famous business visionaries convinced entrepreneurs to hire either InventureX or Ideazon to help with the crowdfunding endeavours of their new companies. The customers, however, did not receive any of the assistance that they had paid for.

Both companies in question market products and help with crowdfunding for entrepreneurs looking for help to launch a successful project.

According to court documents obtained by ET Online, the plaintiffs are claiming that the duo work together to defraud people through the supposed utilisation of “fictional executives, false promises of financial success, and even illusions of being on the show Shark Tank itself”.

“These companies turned out to be nothing less than facades designed to lure in unsuspecting victims, extract their money and then virtually disappear under the guise of delays, minimal to no performance, and no results,” the documents state.

The lawsuit claims that these companies backed by O’Leary and Harrington may not exist and are instead part of a “predatory fraud scheme”.

According to TMZ, Harrington is “a partner and primary executive of InventureX,” and O’Leary allegedly “endorsed and recommended” the same two companies.

On further investigation into the organisations, it was additionally disclosed that InventureX and Ideazon “used the same success stories, same percentage rates of success, same marketing/promotional ideas, same promises/representations, same agreements, same bank accounts and one entity pulling both their strings: Defendant Crowdfund, LLC”.

The plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit claim that their misfortunes could exceed hundreds of thousands of dollars, and are asking that Harrington and O’ Leary pay for economic loss, emotional distress, damages, and legal fees.