Rubicon, Larsens file federal complaint against Utah's Attorney General office

Last week, Rubicon, Rudy Larsen and Jena Larsen filed a federal complaint against officials of the Utah Office of the Attorney General. They filed a federal lawsuit alleging the Utah Attorney General’s Office used false statements to obtain search warrants and pursued charges later dismissed for lack of evidence, causing reputational and financial harm.

The federal complaint

This complaint included the then-acting Attorney General Sean D. Reyes; the then-acting chief of the criminal investigations division of the Utah Attorney General's Office Leo Lucey; criminal investigator Michael Adam Jeter; and lead prosecutor Kaytlin Virginia Beckett.

The lawsuit alleges that defendants used false statements and material omissions to obtain search warrants without probable cause, staged and publicized raids on Rubicon‑related offices, and then filed criminal charges that were later dismissed, causing significant reputational and economic harm.

“Government power must be exercised with precision and honesty. When officials depart from the facts, businesses and families pay the price,” says Cameron Drommond, vice president at Scandia, parent company of Rubicon. “Our complaint details false statements and reckless omissions used to obtain warrants and prosecute an unfounded case — one that was dismissed. We are asking the Court to hold the defendants accountable and to prevent this from happening again.”

The complaint alleges that the defendants:

• Submitted search‑warrant affidavits that contained false statements and omitted material facts, as Judge Rita Cornish made findings in the criminal case that there was no probable cause for human trafficking. (citing Franks v. Delaware standards).
• Orchestrated broad searches of Rubicon’s headquarters in Bountiful, Utah — and related entities and accounts — during the week of Thanksgiving 2023 while improperly inviting the media to accompany law enforcement on the raid.
• Announced and pursued felony charges against individuals associated with Rubicon on November 24, 2023; which charges were ultimately dismissed in February 2025 after court review of the affidavits and evidence.
• Mischaracterized routine employment, payroll, housing and immigration documentation involving temporary visa workers, despite contrary records in the AG’s possession.
• Leveraged inflated “victim” counts and public claims about human‑trafficking investigations to help secure funding and promote the Attorney General’s work on human trafficking to deflect from negative press coverage related to various scandals involving Reyes.
  

The filing also alleges that, by 2023, agency leaders sought additional funding based on rapidly increasing “victim” numbers reported in grant applications. The complaint claims those figures were boosted through investigative practices and communications that departed from the underlying records.

Rubicon is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for reputational and economic losses; and attorneys’ fees and costs; to correct the public record and bar further misuse of official platforms while the case proceeds.

“We support legitimate law enforcement work,” Drommond says. “But state officials crossed clear constitutional lines, turned an investigation into a media spectacle, and harmed our employees, partners, and customers. This suit is about the truth and the rule of law.”