When you hear folks say, “Fake it ‘til you make it,” this is probably not what they mean.
But when Theodore “Teddy” Miller, 34, set up a real estate scam with his mom, he certainly invested a few Benjamins to present himself as someone who knows a thing or two about creating wealth. And based on the evidence, he was definitely faking it.
Calling himself the “Wolf of West Virginia,” Miller unfortunately managed to swindle a number of victims online with his crass and profanity-laden pitches for fraudulent investment schemes.
It’s a tale much older than TikTok, but leveraging the platform clearly paid off for Miller—in the short term. Now, he’s facing 12 counts of wire fraud, one count of money laundering, and two counts of obstruction.
He didn’t work alone, either. Miller’s mom, Deanna Drumm, is his literal partner in crime, though she has not been charged in the criminal complaint against her son.
Meet Theodore “Teddy” Miller: aka the “Wolf of West Virginia”
Miller allegedly ran a real estate investment scam through his own company, Bear Industries LLC, with assistance from his mother, who provided administrative support and received more than $170,000 from investors.
Miller promised investors guaranteed returns through his real estate projects. But prosecutors say he didn’t actually own the properties he referred to. In fact, while Miller presented himself as a wealthy real estate mogul who could guarantee successful investments, he actually had poor credit, little money in the bank, and a record of loan defaults and tax delinquency.
Miller used Instagram as well as TikTok to hype up his luxurious lifestyle, showcasing trips to France, India, Thailand, and Peru as part of his pitches to potential investors.
Miller advertised real estate investment opportunities like duplex housing and a dry storage facility, convincing investors from Florida, California, and Texas to wire him $90,000.
He also launched the Bear Lute Fund, promising guaranteed minimum returns of 6% and an average of 20%, raising over $200,000 from more than 100 investors, despite not owning the properties he used as collateral.
From one of his videos:
“My company pays some pretty good f—ing profits to its investors…You can get started with as little as a hundred f—ing bucks, see what f—ing happens, all the way up to a million f—ing dollars, as long as you remember that golden rule, that you can’t make money if you’re a f—ing p—y.”
Legal Consequences and Fallout
If convicted on all charges, Miller faces up to 200 years in federal prison.
Miller returned to the U.S. on August 8 after spending more than two years abroad. He was arrested the next day. Court records show he’s currently being held without bail and is due to appear in court on Thursday (September 19, 2024).
The SEC has filed a civil complaint against Drumm (Miller’s mother/accomplice), seeking to recover the ill-gotten funds and impose further penalties on Miller, including a lifetime ban from selling securities.
Miller gained local notoriety in 2020 when he first called himself the “Wolf of West Virginia” and promoted a bar with female staff dressed in schoolgirl uniforms.
