CEO And Consultant Plead Guilty To Creating False Books And Records
Tuesday, March 17, 2026 - United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that CHRISTOPHER B. FERGUSON and BRIAN MCFADDEN pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon to falsification of books, records, and accounts for causing the submission of falsified records from Edison Nation, Inc.—a publicly traded diversified consumer products business for which FERGUSON was the CEO and chairman and MCFADDEN was a consultant—in response to an inquiry from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). FERGUSON pled guilty on January 28, 2026, and MCFADDEN pled guilty on March 16, 2026.
“Edison Nation claimed to have over $10 million in orders,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “When FINRA, a self-regulatory organization important to ensuring the integrity of our securities markets, requested documentation to support that, CEO Christopher Ferguson and consultant Brian McFadden caused the company to submit falsified documents. There is no place for that conduct in our markets.”
According to the charging instruments, plea agreements, and statements made in court:
FERGUSON and MCFADDEN caused the submission to FINRA of falsified records related to purchase orders purportedly received by Edison Nation, where FERGUSON was the CEO and MCFADDEN was a consultant. Following the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, Edison Nation expanded its business to include products that were in high demand such as hand sanitizer and face masks. On April 16, 2020, Edison Nation issued a press release announcing that it had “received over $10 million in orders for the purchase of personal protective equipment.”
Although the defendants had discussed a $9 million hand sanitizer purchase with a potential buyer earlier that month, two days before the issuance of the above-mentioned press release, that buyer notified Edison Nation that it was unable to proceed with the transaction. As a result, when the press release was issued, Edison Nation did not, in fact, have “over $10 million in orders.”
On April 23, 2020, about a week after the press release was issued, FINRA requested copies of the purchase orders supporting the “$10 million in orders” referenced in the press release. Thereafter, MCFADDEN asked a business associate at another company to create a $9 million backdated purchase order for hand sanitizer. In response, that other company provided MCFADDEN with the requested purchase order, backdated to April 12, 2020—before the press release was issued. That purchase order did not reflect a true order.
On April 28, 2020, the defendants knowingly caused the submission to FINRA of the backdated purchase order, along with a spreadsheet falsely listing the backdated purchase order as having been received on April 12, 2020. Then, on May 6, 2020, the defendants knowingly caused the submission to FINRA of an email that contained false and misleading statements about the backdated purchase order.
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FERGUSON, 57, of Fishers, Indiana, and MCFADDEN, 40, of Safety Harbor, Florida, pled guilty to one count of falsification of books, records, and accounts, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
This prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas W. Chiuchiolo, Maggie Lynaugh, and Samuel P. Rothschild are in charge of the prosecution.
Contact
Nicholas Biase, Shelby Wratchford
(212) 637-2600
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York
