You've probably never even heard of Deeproot Studios. Founded in 2018 by owner Robert J. Mueller, a financier from San Antonio, Deeproot Studios looked like any other indie game startup. Its website advertises "high-quality products, services, and media" and a studio that builds "games, stories, and fantastic new worlds."
The site's portfolio mentions things like TV, VR, AR, and VFX, but the studio's only game is a pinball machine called Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland 2019. As the name implies, it's about radioactive alien zombies that have somehow infested an abandoned amusement park that was built on both an abandoned nuclear site and a graveyard.
It also has the thinnest YouTube video advertisement I've ever seen.
After, Deeproot Studios doesn't seem to have gotten up to much, and now thanks to a lawsuit filed by the US Securities Exchange Commission, we're finding out that there might’ve been a reason.
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On August 20, the SEC filed charges in San Antonio court against Mueller, his investment company Deeproot Funds, and several affiliated businesses for "operating a years-long fraudulent scheme that raised approximately $58 million from nearly 300 investors in two investment funds."
Mueller owned and served as adviser on two pooled funds, Deeproot Funds and Policy Services Inc. He "persuaded investors, many of whom were retirees, to cash out annuities they held with other investment companies and invest in the funds." After acquiring $58 million, he allegedly funneled more than $30 million to other businesses Mueller controlled and used "at least $820,000 of new investor money to pay earlier investors."
Additionally, Mueller allegedly paid himself a substantial salary of $1.6 million from Policy Services Inc. and also misappropriated $1.5 million to pay "personal expenses."
The SEC is "seeking civil penalties, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with interest, and permanent injunctions." What this means for the future of Deeproot Studios is unclear, but it’s probably not good.
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