By Jacob Adelman

Conservative radio host Buck Sexton has filed a federal lawsuit against executives of RAD Diversified REIT, alleging they defrauded him of more than $100,000, even as they paid to promote their ventures on his nationally syndicated show.

In a racketeering complaint filed Aug. 25 in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Sexton accused RAD founders Dutch Mendenhall and Amy Vaughn of soliciting cash from him for investment coaching that was never provided and for property deals that never happened.

The complaint came weeks after Florida's Attorney General announced a probe into RAD, saying the real estate investment firm "appears to be a Ponzi scheme." RAD was the subject of a Barron's investigation in June.

Former RAD employees told Barron's that the investment returns promoted in the firm's intensive social-media ad campaigns were based on property valuations set by company executives, not outside appraisers. Some investors told Barron's that they lost their life savings to RAD.

"Despite being an experienced real estate investor, Mr. Sexton was taken in by the documents and investment returns touted by Mendenhall and his representatives," Sexton's attorney wrote in last week's complaint. "The defendants' grand promises of sweeping returns never materialized."

A RAD attorney didn't respond to messages from Barron's.

Sexton, co-host of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, declined to comment on pending litigation through an attorney. Sexton's program is broadcast on 550 radio stations nationwide, according to its distributor Premiere Networks, a subsidiary of iHeartMedia.

Sexton's complaint is the latest challenge for RAD's founders, whose fortunes appear to have shifted since their appearance this spring on Going Public, a reality-TV-style investor show that Elon Musk's X had promoted as a tentpole of its original programming strategy.

Going Public, which has described itself as " Shark Tank meets The Apprentice," introduced audiences to businesses seeking financial backing, allowing those viewers to invest in the businesses under "crowdfunding" provisions of federal law.

Going Public's creators received $1 million from Mendenhall, who used the appearance on the show to promote his and Vaughn's new venture, a turnaround firm for struggling golf courses called Omnico Golf, Barron's reported in June.

At the time of Mendenhall and Vaughn's appearance on Going Public, RAD had been under investigation by Florida's Office of Financial Regulation. Some RAD investors and former employees told Barron's they had been interviewed by Securities and Exchange Commission investigators about the company's practices.

Since Barron's report was published, links to the Going Public episodes featuring Omnico and other mentions of the company have been removed from the show's website. Omnico's website currently features a link to join a wait list to invest. As of Thursday, Omnico hadn't filed the necessary paperwork to accept investment, according to the SEC's website.

A spokesperson for Going Public co-creator Darren Marble didn't return messages seeking comment.

In July, Florida's Attorney General's office filed a state court petition to compel RAD's compliance with a subpoena for business records sought in connection with its investigation.

RAD argued in its response to the court that the state office doesn't have jurisdiction over its business and that the subpoena is unduly burdensome to the firm, in part because prosecutors could request the records from the SEC. RAD has given more than one million pages of documents to the federal agency in connection with its ongoing investigation, RAD said.

Florida's Attorney General's office declined to comment. An SEC spokesperson said the agency doesn't comment on the existence or nonexistence of a possible investigation.

Sexton met Mendenhall and Vaughn in 2023 when they became advertisers on his show, according to the complaint.

Mendenhall and Vaughn "assured Mr. Sexton that he would receive promotional support, high-yield investment returns, and access to exclusive real estate ventures in exchange for his endorsement and capital contributions," the complaint said.

Distributor Premiere obtained a separate judgment against RAD in May for failing to pay $1.6 million owed for sponsorship messages read by hosts of Sexton's show and other programs. Premiere didn't respond to messages seeking comment.

Sexton said he was also a paid speaker at a conference arranged by Mendenhall and Vaughn. Others at the December 2023 event in Tampa, Fla., called the Invest Wealth Summit, included conservative media and political figures Tucker Carlson, Tudor Dixon and Lisa Boothe.

Carlson, Dixon, and Booth didn't return messages for comment.

Sexton paid $50,000 in September 2023 to join RAD's Inner Circle, the company's training program for aspiring property investors, according to the complaint. His company, Romegas, also extended the group a $50,000 loan for a real estate project that offered 20% interest payments, according to documents submitted with the complaint.

At the Tampa conference that December, Mendenhall and Vaughn pitched Sexton over lunch at their hotel suite on a $100,000 investment in a new fund that they said would pay 20% returns. While Sexton "did not affirm that he would invest," he did express some interest, according to the complaint.

"At the conclusion of lunch, Mendenhall and Vaughn had security escort Mr. Sexton back to the main event auditorium," Sexton's attorney wrote. But "instead of the areas with other members, security took Mr. Sexton to a computer terminal where a [RAD] employee was waiting and asked for his bank account information for the $100,000.00 wire transfer."

Sexton ultimately invested $10,000 in the fund, but saw no returns from that or any other investment, according to the complaint.

"Defendants never delivered the promised returns, services, or business opportunities," Sexton's lawyer wrote. "This action seeks to hold them accountable."

Write to Jacob Adelman at jacob.adelman@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 04, 2025 12:06 ET (16:06 GMT)

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