GATES TRUST v.
ADAM & MARLAH KARIOTOGLOU, et al.
Breaking News!
Allegations Incl. - Fraud, Theft, Embezzlement, Civil Conspiracy, Unlawful Acts, Breach of Fiduciary Duty, etc.
Download the Complaint
Want to Testify or Provide Your Experiences?
Defendants named in the Verified Complaint filed by Gates Trust, October 2025
In 2017, Adam Kariotoglou solicited a $325,000 investment from the Gates Trust, managed by Greg Crane, to develop the “Pangaea Aquarium” animatronic dinosaur park.
The lawsuit alleges that Adam Kariotoglou misappropriated over $3,254,587.27 in investor funds for personal expenses—including luxury goods, elective medical procedures, and transfers to affiliated entities such as Fly Group LLC, GEA Investment Group LLC, and others.
The complaint lists 2,149 alleged acts of theft, embezzlement, and conversion, and brings seven causes of action:
Accounting
Fraud / Fraud in the Inducement
Breach of Fiduciary Duty
Conversion, Civil Theft, Embezzlement, Misappropriation, and Defalcation
Fraudulent Conveyance
Civil Conspiracy
Unlawful Acts and Pattern of Unlawful Activity
Dear Interested Party,
This 1,251 Page Complaint alleges 2,149 occasions of Theft and other allegations that no less than $3,254,587.27 have been misappropriated.
It greatly saddens me as I thought that Adam and I were great friends...
Several times over the past 10 years I had requested financial records from Adam in writing but was never able to get them. Now I believe I know why I had been stonewalled all of those years…
Once financial records were revealed as part of a due diligence process for funding a project in Monterey California, I was able to get access to much of them. I never took the time to actually look at them and go through them in detail until after Adam accidentally texted me on October 09, 2025 “I’m gonna go dark with Angelo and Greg.”. This text came early the morning after my partner and I had continued to work very late into the night trying to write documents to clean things, up to the point that we could all properly and legally go forward together on the Monterey California project…
Once I started to dig further, after the above disturbing text, I was shocked to the extent of what had happened, and also what just recently happened. I even discovered that in early to mid-September Adam had two Film Royalty Payments totaling over $300,000 sent to one of his private GEA bank accounts which only he has access to, instead of an account for the benefit of his partners or relevant investors...
This Complaint does not cover all of the Pangaea Exhibit related issues, and it does not address the other 10 or so ventures that I was involved in with Adam over the proceeding decade, all of which I lost all of my money.
Please be advised that I am continuing to appropriately, creativity, and aggressively proceed with this action, and any and all other lawful actions as may be approved by appropriate legal counsel.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions, concerns or to help or share any information which you may have.
Greg Crane