Registered Agents Inc. Explained

Founder:Dan Keen
Hq Location City:Sheridan, Wyoming
Hq Location Country:United States
Services:Registered agent
Owner:Dan Keen
Subsid:Epik

Registered Agents Inc. (RAI) is a national registered agent firm headquartered in Sheridan, WY. The company incorporates businesses and acts as a point of contact for legal notices.

RAI is known for hiding the identities of its clients and obscuring ownership of the LLCs it forms by listing its address and fictitious personas on clients' business formation documents. In Wyoming alone, approximately 120,000 LLCs are associated with its Sheridan address.

In 2024, the company also received in-depth media coverage after acquiring Epik, a domain registrar and web hosting company with deep ties to the alt-right.[1] [2]

History

In 2008, Dan Keen founded RAI after running a tree trimming and landscaping business. Initially focusing on company incorporation in the Pacific Northwest,[3] Dan Keen grew RAI into a registered agent incorporating companies throughout the United States.[4] According to Wired, RAI is a "one-stop shop for people seeking to incorporate a business in any US state, often in those with advantageous tax policies, while obscuring their identities." RAI uses fictitious personas to mask the identities of its employees and to sign their customers' incorporation documents, according to Wired.[5] In Wyoming alone, RAI serves as the registered agent for over 50,000 companies.[6]

In 2020, RAI threatened to sue a Wyoming newspaper, The Sheridan Press, after it investigated RAI as the registered agent of companies with no presence in Wyoming that had received CARES Act money. In 2022, a joint investigation by The Washington Post and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists found that RAI served as the registered agent to companies alleged to launder COVID-19 funds.[7] The same year, KELO-TV reported that RAI served as the registered agent for a company operating illegal robocalls targeted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).[8] In 2023, Reuters reported that RAI served as the registered agent for Russian and Somali cybercrime groups.[9] The same year, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that a company incorporated with RAI was used in cyberattacks against media organizations in several countries.[10]

In January 2024, RAI was reported to serve as the registered agent for a vital records intermediary company later shut down by the Wyoming authorities for misrepresentation.[11] The same year, an RAI-registered company was linked to an organization providing dark money to political campaigns, and another was linked to an election disinformation operation involving a proposed library bond.[12] [13] In May 2024, investigative journalist Leah Sottile found that RAI had formed and maintains a shell company in Wyoming called TwinRay Ventures for secretive religious group, TwinRay, that is based in southern Oregon.[14] The same month, Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray dissolved three companies registered by RAI that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) found to be linked to fraud directed by North Korea's Ministry of Defence.[15] [16] [17]

Subsidiaries

In June 2023, RAI acquired Epik, a domain name registrar and web hosting service catering to far-right and neo-Nazi websites that have been denied service by other internet service providers.[18] [19]

RAI also owns a software development company called Two Barrels LLC and a company that helps manage multiple corporation filings called Corporate Tools LLC.

See also

References

  1. Turton . William . February 8, 2024 . The Far Right's Favorite Web Host Has a Shadowy New Owner . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240213021939/https://www.wired.com/story/epik-domain-registrar-new-owner/ . February 13, 2024 . February 13, 2024 . . en-US . 1059-1028.
  2. News: Collins . Benedict . February 9, 2024 . The world's most controversial domain registrar has a new owner — and apparently it is "forging a new path" . April 20, 2024 . . March 18, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240318224700/https://www.techradar.com/pro/the-worlds-most-controversial-domain-registrar-has-a-new-owner-and-apparently-it-is-forging-a-new-path . live .
  3. News: Czaban . Kristen . November 25, 2020 . Commercial registered agents bring business with unintended consequences . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240220073257/https://www.thesheridanpress.com/news/local/commercial-registered-agents-bring-business-with-unintended-consequences/article_8959264a-2e78-11eb-8fab-9b8d11be00ee.html . February 20, 2024 . March 10, 2024 . The Sheridan Press.
  4. Turton . William . Mehrotra . Dhruv . March 5, 2024 . Inside the Shadowy Firm Pushing the Limits of Business Privacy . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240309003004/https://www.wired.com/story/registered-agents-inc-fake-personas/ . 2024-03-09 . 2024-03-10 . . en-US . 1059-1028 . The company routinely incorporates thousands of businesses on behalf of its customers using fake personas. Former Registered Agents Inc. employees say that the company’s widespread use of personas is an outgrowth of its founder’s obsession with privacy and a desire to push the boundaries of incorporation laws..
  5. News: Wolfson . Leo . July 31, 2024 . Are Wyoming's Secretive LLC Laws Making State A "Haven For Scammers?" . August 1, 2024 . Cowboy State Daily . July 31, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240731055653/https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/07/30/are-wyomings-secretive-llc-laws-making-state-a-haven-for-scammers/ . live .
  6. News: Snoozy . Ashleigh . July 17, 2023 . Another scam recorded from business related to 30 N. Gould St. registered agent . March 31, 2024 . The Sheridan Press . February 13, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240213213510/https://www.thesheridanpress.com/news/local/another-scam-recorded-from-business-related-to-30-n-gould-st-registered-agent/article_52b040ca-f622-11eb-a595-e7f2de685e62.html . live .
  7. News: Will . Fitzgibbon . Cenziper . Debbie . Crites . Alice . April 5, 2022 . The gatekeepers who help open America to oligarchs and scammers . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240305205425/https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/the-gatekeepers-who-help-open-america-to-oligarchs-and-scammers/ . March 5, 2024 . March 10, 2024 . . Until last month, the company listed “Bill Havre” as board president and executive director...ICIJ and The Post searched public records in Wyoming and across the United States, including voter registration and property records, and found no one listed by that name..
  8. News: Soulek . Lauren . July 11, 2022 . Some scam robocalls may stem from a SD company . March 31, 2024 . . August 14, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220814032501/https://www.keloland.com/news/local-news/some-scam-robocalls-may-stem-from-a-sd-company/ . live .
  9. News: Satter . Raphael . December 12, 2023 . How cybercriminals are using Wyoming shell companies for global hacks . live . https://archive.today/20231212115343/https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/how-cybercriminals-are-using-wyoming-shell-companies-global-hacks-2023-12-12/ . December 12, 2023 . March 31, 2024 . Reuters.
  10. Web site: Rozen . Jonathan . 2023-09-19 . 'Network abuse': Attacks on 3 media sites involved services of US, UK firms . 2024-08-22 . . en-US . 2024-07-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240728094256/https://cpj.org/2023/09/network-abuse-attacks-on-3-media-sites-involved-services-of-us-uk-firms/ . live .
  11. News: McFarland . Clair . January 19, 2024 . Official Wyoming Record-Keeper Warns Of Shady Online Sites Hoarding Personal Data . April 1, 2024 . Cowboy State Daily . April 1, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240401211318/https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/01/19/official-wyoming-record-keeper-warns-of-shady-online-sites-hoarding-personal-data/ . live .
  12. News: Racker . Mini . Sollenberger . Roger . May 16, 2024 . This Mysterious New GOP Dark Money Group Raises All Kinds of Red Flags . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240516175326/https://www.thedailybeast.com/mysterious-gop-dark-money-group-ardleigh-impact-corp-raises-all-kinds-of-red-flags . May 16, 2024 . June 4, 2024 . The Daily Beast.
  13. News: Hussein . Tayeba . March 10, 2024 . Dirty tricks in Maitland library campaign? Hit mailer flouts political laws . April 3, 2024 . . March 17, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240317154856/https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2024/03/10/dirty-tricks-in-maitland-library-campaign-hit-mailer-flouts-political-laws/ . live .
  14. Web site: Sottile . Leah . Leah Sottile . May 7, 2024 . The TwinRay mystery: A spiritual group in Ashland raises eyebrows and worries . 2 August 2024 . . 2 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240802154523/https://www.opb.org/article/2024/05/07/twinray-ashland-oregon-the-haven-cult/ . live .
  15. Turton . William . June 5, 2024 . A US Company Enabled a North Korean Scam That Raised Money for WMDs . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240605095940/https://www.wired.com/story/registered-agents-north-korean-scam-wmds/ . June 5, 2024 . June 5, 2024 . Wired.
  16. News: Wolfson . Leo . May 21, 2024 . Chuck Gray Strips North Korean Businesses Of Wyoming Licenses After Flagged By FBI . May 23, 2024 . Cowboy State Daily . May 22, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240522002142/https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/05/21/chuck-gray-strips-3-north-korea-businesses-flagged-by-fbi-of-wyoming-licenses/ . live .
  17. News: Gookin . Marit . May 22, 2024 . North Korean businesses registered under false information dissolved . May 23, 2024 . . May 22, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240522190807/https://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/news/wyoming/article_d053d555-954e-56c2-86f6-5f44e6afa2f6.html . live .
  18. News: Allemann . Andrew . 3 June 2023 . Epik is sold . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230612153044/https://domainnamewire.com/2023/06/03/epik-is-sold/ . 12 June 2023 . 13 June 2023 . Domain Name Wire.
  19. News: Allemann . Andrew . February 5, 2024 . Registered Agents Inc. indeed acquired Epik . Domain Name Wire . March 31, 2024 . March 22, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240322191032/https://domainnamewire.com/2024/02/05/registered-agents-inc-indeed-acquired-epik/ . live .

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