Aaron Wagner, the Scottsdale businessman who once pitched himself as a restaurant empire builder behind ventures like Swags and Bottled Blonde, has pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges after admitting he diverted investor money into a private jet, real estate and a six-figure luxury watch. Under a plea agreement reached in August, Wagner has agreed to serve 10 years in federal prison if a judge approves the deal, resolving a case that once carried the possibility of up to 80 years behind bars.
According to SLC Scoop, Wagner pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to three felony counts — conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and bank fraud. The plea resolves a case that began with 16 felony counts following Wagner's October 2024 arrest, according to the East Valley Tribune. Wagner was arrested and booked into a Salt Lake City jail on October 24, 2024, after a criminal complaint accusing him of defrauding private investors and lenders in restaurant businesses managed by Wagscap Food Services LLC and related entities was filed the day before.
Court filings made public after the plea agreement show Wagner admitted that investor funds were diverted without authorization to buy a $9.35 million private jet, real estate properties, and a $90,000 Audemars Piguet watch, according to a Reddit thread documenting the plea filings. Per the East Valley Tribune, Wagner has admitted to using investor funds to buy homes and private planes and support a lavish lifestyle, and prosecutors have said he displayed that lifestyle publicly to convince investors he was a successful businessman rather than disclosing that his apparent success was financed by stolen investor money.
A Scheme Built on Restaurant Promises
Wagner founded Wags Capital in Scottsdale in 2016, a venture the East Valley Tribune reports grew out of a condo flip he completed in college. He went on to claim his company had completed transactions totaling over $1 billion and that he owned 20 restaurants operating with profits, pitching restaurants and real estate projects to investors seeking funding for developments in dozens of cities.
Federal prosecutors and investigative filings say Wagner and co-defendant Michael Mains solicited funds under the pretense of developing franchises for popular food brands including Crumbl Cookies, Everbowl, Dirty Bird Fried Chxx, Hello Sugar, and Kokonut Island Grill, according to KSL. That station reported federal prosecutors estimate Wagner and Mains collected over $40 million from private investors and lenders between March 2021 and late 2024, running what prosecutors described as a Ponzi-like operation that used newer investors' capital to pay back earlier ones and project financial stability. Wagner partially repaid earlier investors specifically to conceal the diverted funds, per the East Valley Tribune, which also reported that per an FBI complaint, investigator Brad Simons found Wags Capital used $2 million from an investor meant for a restaurant venture to help purchase an $8.3 million airplane.
Forensic research firm Hindenburg Research began investigating Wags Capital in August 2023 after receiving whistleblower tips, later publishing an October 2024 report alleging Wagner ran an unregistered investment firm and lied about playing in the Rose Bowl to solicit investors. That Hindenburg report also detailed how Wagner and Mains allegedly siphoned approximately $400,000 from eight Crumbl Cookie locations between 2021 and 2022 by disguising the payouts as wages for “Shift Leads.” Prosecutors have alleged that out of roughly $11 million raised for several restaurant concepts, about $9 million was diverted to personal use.
Scottsdale and Gilbert Projects Left Behind
Locally, Wagner had planned to convert an East Shoeman Lane property he paid $4.5 million for in 2024 into a restaurant called Swags, pitching the project to the Scottsdale City Council. The Scottsdale Planning Commission approved plans in 2023 for a three-story, 10,000-square-foot restaurant on the site, with Omar Abdallah of Rose Law Group representing Swags and arguing at the time that the project was a restaurant rather than a bar. Wagner spent $500,000 on engineering, planning and legal bills pursuing the project, according to the East Valley Tribune, but the Scottsdale City Council ultimately rejected the super-majority approval needed for Swags to move forward, and Shawn Yari and Steven Yari of Stockdale Capital opposed Wagner's rezoning request for the multilevel restaurant and bar.
In Gilbert, Wags Capital and Wagscap were listed as developers in plans submitted for a Bottled Blonde location at the former Bergies Coffee Roast House site in the town's Heritage District. The Gilbert Redevelopment Commission had voted 5-0 in 2023 to approve Bottled Blonde's final design, and the Gilbert Town Council also approved the design, but hospitality group Bottled Blonde severed ties with Wags Capital in November 2024 following Wagner's arrest, canceling the Gilbert plans, according to Phoenix New Times. Bottled Blonde, which has locations in Dallas, Houston and Miami, previously closed its Chicago location following noise and rowdiness complaints. Hoodline reported on the fallout for the Gilbert property back in November 2024.
Montana Property and a Concealed Debt
The scheme's reach extended well beyond Arizona and Utah. Federal prosecutors sought forfeiture of the historic former Missoulian newspaper building in Missoula, Montana, which Wagner had bought with diverted investor funds, before agreeing in August 2026 to drop those forfeiture claims so a $100 million riverfront redevelopment project could proceed without him, according to the Missoulian. Wagner had purchased the riverfront property in 2021 before clashing publicly with local residents on social media over its future.
Wagner's plea agreement also revealed that he and Michael Mains created a fake $20.5 million debt to help conceal Mains' assets from creditors and from Mains' wife during divorce proceedings, according to the Reddit thread detailing the plea filings. Mains, who became Wagner's business partner and was indicted alongside him in November 2024, pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges of his own on August 28, 2026. Court records in United States v. Wagner reportedly included a spreadsheet titled “Real Estate Schedule – Dynamic Capital/Aaron Wagner,” and Mains had written in 2021 that Wagner might want a plane every weekend because of the Scottsdale restaurant opening.
Family Fallout and What Comes Next
Wagner's own marriage became entangled in the case as well. His estranged wife, Candace Wagner, refiled for divorce in June 2024 after learning about the federal investigation, and has publicly stated in 2026 that she had no knowledge of or involvement in her husband's financial crimes, according to a Facebook post detailing the couple's dispute. The couple's marital assets, including a $5.3 million mansion in Alpine, Utah, became entangled in both the divorce and federal forfeiture proceedings. Wagner also purchased a five-bedroom home near Shea Boulevard and 75th Street in Scottsdale, per the East Valley Tribune.
Since his arrest, Wagner has been released from custody under release stipulations that included turning over his passport, not leaving Utah, and staying away from the location of his plane. He was allowed to travel from Utah in 2025 to visit his mother in Mesa and his sister in Scottsdale. Wagner consented to United States Magistrate Judge Jared C. Bennett accepting his guilty plea on August 26, 2026, and both Wagner and Mains have sentencing scheduled for November 18, 2026, when a judge will decide whether to approve the agreed 10-year term and address restitution owed to victims.
