TENNESSEE COUPLE PLEAD GUILTY TO FEDERAL FRAUD CHARGES

Acting United States Attorney April M. Leon announced that Haskell Knight, a/k/a “Trey Knight,” age 61, and Emily Knight, a/k/a “Emily Ricciardelli,” age 41, both of Franklin, Tennessee, pled guilty before U.S. District Chief Judge Shelly D. Dick to federal felony fraud charges related to Trey Knight’s Udoxa business and their bankruptcy filings. 

According to admissions made as a part of their guilty pleas, in 2016 Trey Knight began to look for investment capital for his new business, Udoxa, which claimed to market nutritional supplements. Yet, Udoxa never conducted any actual sales. He and others on his behalf solicited and received $50,000 loans from several victims under false pretenses and then did little to follow through with starting the business. Trey Knight misrepresented the existence of a rich investor, available formation capital for the business, and the strength of the startup, among other things, to get the victims’ money and then failed to use it in the agreed upon manner. Based on the promises made to them, the victims also expected to be paid back with interest and to have the option to gain an ownership stake in a legitimate company. This did not happen. Instead, the money loaned was used in part to pay Trey Knight’s old business debt and his personal expenses. In May of 2017, the Knights filed for bankruptcy in the Middle District of Florida and listed the victims as unsecured Udoxa creditors.

In filing for bankruptcy, Trey Knight failed to provide a truthful and complete statement of income, assets and liabilities, as required by law and made numerous false statements under oath at the creditors’ meeting regarding this information. Specifically, Trey Knight failed to disclose significant income from network marketing businesses as well as liabilities owed from prior business ventures and then gave false information under oath about his finances and more during the creditors’ meeting. The Knights both lied under oath at the creditors’ meeting claiming to be unemployed, despite both being employed at the time.

These actions prevented the bankruptcy trustee from properly executing the bankruptcy proceeding, leaving the creditors, like the Udoxa victims, with less money than they should have received and allowing the Knights to walk away from debts while keeping significant funds they were not entitled to keep.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jessica M.P. Thornhill, who also serves as the Deputy Chief of Economic Crimes Unit.