Founded | 2008 |
---|---|
Founder | Dan Keen |
Headquarters | , United States |
Services | Registered agent |
Owner | Dan Keen |
Subsidiaries | Epik |
Website |
www |
Registered Agents Inc. (RAI) is a United States-based registered agent company founded by Dan Keen in 2008. Since 2023, RAI has been the owner of Epik, a domain name registrar and web hosting service known for providing services to alt-tech websites that host far-right, neo-Nazi, and other extremist materials. [1] [2]
In 2008, Dan Keen founded RAI after running a tree trimming and landscaping business in Idaho. [3] Initially focusing on company incorporation in the Pacific Northwest, [4] Dan Keen grew RAI into a registered agent incorporating companies throughout the United States. [3] 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." [3] RAI uses fictitious personas to mask the identities of its employees and to sign their customers' incorporation documents, according to Wired. [3] In Wyoming alone, RAI serves as the registered agent for over 50,000 companies. [5]
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. [4] [6] 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. [6] 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). [7] In 2023, Reuters reported that RAI served as the registered agent for Russian and Somali cybercrime groups. [8] 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. [9] 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. [10] [11] In May 2024, 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. [12] [13] [14]
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. [1] [15] [16] [2]
RAI also owns a software development company called Two Barrels LLC and a company that helps manage multiple corporation filings called Corporate Tools LLC. [3]
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.
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.
Founded | 2008 |
---|---|
Founder | Dan Keen |
Headquarters | , United States |
Services | Registered agent |
Owner | Dan Keen |
Subsidiaries | Epik |
Website |
www |
Registered Agents Inc. (RAI) is a United States-based registered agent company founded by Dan Keen in 2008. Since 2023, RAI has been the owner of Epik, a domain name registrar and web hosting service known for providing services to alt-tech websites that host far-right, neo-Nazi, and other extremist materials. [1] [2]
In 2008, Dan Keen founded RAI after running a tree trimming and landscaping business in Idaho. [3] Initially focusing on company incorporation in the Pacific Northwest, [4] Dan Keen grew RAI into a registered agent incorporating companies throughout the United States. [3] 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." [3] RAI uses fictitious personas to mask the identities of its employees and to sign their customers' incorporation documents, according to Wired. [3] In Wyoming alone, RAI serves as the registered agent for over 50,000 companies. [5]
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. [4] [6] 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. [6] 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). [7] In 2023, Reuters reported that RAI served as the registered agent for Russian and Somali cybercrime groups. [8] 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. [9] 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. [10] [11] In May 2024, 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. [12] [13] [14]
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. [1] [15] [16] [2]
RAI also owns a software development company called Two Barrels LLC and a company that helps manage multiple corporation filings called Corporate Tools LLC. [3]
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.
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.