Kenneth Thom Stole Nearly $800,000 From Facebook Followers With Investment Scam And Used The Money For Luxurious Purchases
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York has announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging Kenneth Thom. The USAO indicted Thom a/k/a “K$” and a/k/a “K Money” with securities fraud and investment adviser fraud. Thom was arrested last week.
Prosecutors say Thom allegedly manipulated his client’s investments to promote an illusion of success. Thom’s alleged incessant deceit also betrayed the trust of investors by failing to disclose his misuse of client funds.
You can read the indictment here.
In May 2006, THOM passed his securities exams and registered as a broker with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). In January 2011, FINRA suspended Thom’s broker registration after he failed to pay an arbitration award to an investor. Thom also admitted around that time that he had commingled that investor’s money with his own money in an account that he controlled. Thom also admitted that he did not tell the investor that he had lost her money. He would give fake excuses when the investor asked for their money. At no time did he tell the investor that he had lost her money.
Thom Promotes Himself As A “Wall Street Insider”
After being suspended from FINRA, Thom began promoting himself on social media as a successful trader. He used the monikers “K$” and “K Money.”
He also described himself as a “Wall Street veteran” and a “beacon of knowledge.” As a result, he used his online platforms to sell trading courses and trade suggestions to his followers. Thom used a Facebook group called the “K$ Trading Group” (the “K$ Facebook Group”) to promote himself. Thom posted the results of his purportedly successful trades on these pages.
In late 2023, THOM invited members of the K$ Facebook Group to participate in “shared accounts” scheme. Thom informed investors he would manage the “shared accounts” in exchange for a percentage of the trading profits.
Kenneth Thom Scams $800,000 From Facebook Followers
Thom eventually raised nearly $800,000 from approximately 67 clients. Of this sum, THOM invested only approximately $350,000. He diverted the remainder for his own personal use, including on travel and luxury goods. Thom lost more than $250,000 $350,000 in trading options. This equated to a net loss of approximately 73% between March 2024 and March 2025. Thom published false performance updates to hide the losses by showing fake significant gains.
In or about January 2025, Thom changed the name of the K$ Facebook Group to “AYBABTU.” AYBABTU was an acronym for the Internet meme “all your base are belong to us.”
Thom stopped responding to clients immediately after changing the name of the Facebook group.
Federal prosecutors have charged Thom with one count of securities fraud and one count of investment adviser fraud. Both of these charges carry a combined maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
