The Mark Anderson SEC lawsuit is a civil fraud action filed on April 7, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, accusing the founder of Drake’s Organic Spirits of running sham sales through companies he owned to inflate the liquor brand’s revenue and mislead investors who put roughly $2.4 million into the business on the strength of those false numbers.1SEC.gov. SEC Files Charges Against Mark D. Anderson, BBFY USA, Inc., and Captain Drake, LLC The SEC named Anderson personally along with two entities he and his wife controlled, BBFY USA, Inc. and Captain Drake, LLC.
What the SEC Says Anderson Did
The agency’s core allegation is a set of “round-trip transactions” at the end of 2021. In the final two weeks of December, Anderson directed Drake’s staff to book about $2.6 million in sales of bulk alcohol and citric acid to Liquid Solutions, an unregistered entity he had created, and to BBFY USA. No product moved. No invoices or shipping records existed. At the same time, Anderson moved nearly identical sums out of Drake’s accounts to Captain Drake, sending the money back the way it had come.2SEC.gov. SEC Complaint, SEC v. Mark D. Anderson et al. The effect, according to the complaint, was to overstate Drake’s 2021 net sales revenue by roughly 37%.
The SEC says Anderson ran the same play again in the summer of 2022, adding about $391,000 in fabricated sales from Liquid Solutions to cover cash flow problems. That entry inflated Drake’s reported income for January through October 2022 by about 13%.2SEC.gov. SEC Complaint, SEC v. Mark D. Anderson et al. A separate report Anderson circulated in May 2022 falsely claimed the company had generated roughly $10 million in 2021 revenue.
How Investors Were Pulled In
Those inflated figures were baked into the private placement memoranda Drake’s used to raise capital. Between February and December 2022, the company sold convertible debt to 13 investors and collected about $1.5 million. Between February and March 2023, a rights offering for preferred stock brought in another $923,974 from 71 investors.1SEC.gov. SEC Files Charges Against Mark D. Anderson, BBFY USA, Inc., and Captain Drake, LLC Both offerings, the SEC says, relied on the false revenue numbers.
Over its life, Drake’s raised approximately $21 million from about 180 investors. The SEC says investors lost most of their money.3The Spirits Business. SEC Sues Drake’s Organic Spirits Founder in $2.4M Fraud Case
How the Scheme Came Apart
Anderson resigned as CEO in April 2023 at the request of Drake’s board and certain investors who wanted more experienced leadership. Once he was out, the board chairman and the chief financial officer began reviewing the books and found them worse than expected. The chairman located records suggesting the December 2021 bulk alcohol sales were fabricated and that the bank accounts on the other side of them belonged to Anderson, not to an independent buyer.2SEC.gov. SEC Complaint, SEC v. Mark D. Anderson et al.
Confronted, Anderson first told the board that Liquid Solutions was owned by a “good friend.” His attorney sent a letter pointing to a defunct California company with the same name, an apparent attempt to obscure the connection. On a video call on April 14, 2023, the chairman pressed harder. Anderson admitted he had bought product from Drake’s under the Liquid Solutions name, saying he did it to keep the company from running out of money. That was the first time he told anyone on the board that he owned BBFY and Liquid Solutions.2SEC.gov. SEC Complaint, SEC v. Mark D. Anderson et al.
Drake’s sold off its remaining assets in the second half of 2023 and was administratively dissolved in January 2026. It is now a defunct shell with no assets.4Minnesota Star Tribune. SEC Lawsuit Accuses Drake’s Organic Spirits Founder of Falsifying Sales Data
The Charges and What the SEC Is Asking For
The SEC charged Anderson personally with violating the antifraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5. BBFY USA and Captain Drake face similar charges. The agency is seeking permanent injunctions, civil penalties, and a conduct-based injunction that would bar Anderson from participating in the issuance, purchase, offer, or sale of any security other than for his own personal accounts.1SEC.gov. SEC Files Charges Against Mark D. Anderson, BBFY USA, Inc., and Captain Drake, LLC
Anderson’s Response and Case Status
Anderson’s attorney called the allegations “groundless” and said Anderson would “aggressively defend the lawsuit.”4Minnesota Star Tribune. SEC Lawsuit Accuses Drake’s Organic Spirits Founder of Falsifying Sales Data As of the complaint’s filing in April 2026, the case was in the early litigation stage, with no settlement or judgment on the record.1SEC.gov. SEC Files Charges Against Mark D. Anderson, BBFY USA, Inc., and Captain Drake, LLC
A Different Mark Anderson in the News
A separate criminal case has drawn attention around the same name. A 36-year-old Mark Anderson from Mankato, Minnesota, was arrested on January 28, 2026, and charged with impersonating an FBI agent at a Brooklyn jail in what authorities described as an attempt to free Luigi Mangione.5NBC News. Man Allegedly Posed as FBI Agent in Apparent Attempt to Spring Luigi Mangione From Prison That defendant is not the Drake’s Organic Spirits founder named in the SEC action.