Michael J. French, a 42-year-old resident of Pendleton, South Carolina, has been sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for operating a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors out of millions and for cyberstalking two TikTok content creators. In addition to his prison term, French was ordered 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.”
According to evidence presented during French’s plea hearing, he owned MJF Holdings, LLC and MJF Capital, LLC. Beginning in March 2019, he solicited investments through promissory notes promising annual returns of 12%. He told investors their money would be used for loans to small businesses and claimed expertise in underwriting such loans. French also stated he would only receive compensation if returns exceeded the guaranteed rate.
Investigators found these claims were false; French used funds from new investors to pay earlier ones because his investment products were not generating actual returns—a classic Ponzi scheme structure. He spent investor money on luxury items including cars, a boat, properties, and made significant payments—sometimes as much as $40,000 per day—to female TikTok content creators.
When those content creators ceased communication 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 arrested after barricading himself in a hotel room armed with a firearm; he surrendered following negotiations with FBI hostage negotiators.
United States Chief Judge Timothy M Cain sentenced French to 156 months imprisonment followed by three years supervised release. Restitution was set at $14,750,990.
The case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Bill Watkins prosecuted the case.
