Adam Ferrari, the founder and CEO of Phoenix Energy (formerly Phoenix Capital Group Holdings), has been involved in three notable legal matters: a 2019 Colorado felony theft case that ended in a deferred sentence and a sealed record, a 2023 defamation suit he filed against a rival energy CEO in Texas federal court, and a 2025 defamation suit he filed against Forbes that a federal judge dismissed. The Adam Ferrari lawsuits below cover each of those matters and where they stand.
The 2019 Colorado Felony Theft Case
On July 18, 2019, Ferrari pleaded guilty in Denver District Court to one felony count of theft of $100,000 to $1 million. Thirteen additional charges were dropped as part of a plea agreement with the Denver District Attorney’s Office.1Greeley Tribune. Mineral Rights Case a Warning to Others The charges stemmed from allegations that Ferrari forged a deed to reroute roughly $300,000 in accrued oil and gas royalties from an escrow account tied to a property in Weld County, Colorado. The funds had been held for a mineral rights holder and Anadarko Petroleum.2Forbes. Buyer Beware: These Yield-Gushing Oil Bonds Could Derail Your Retirement
Ferrari received a deferred sentence with three years of unsupervised probation and $30,000 in restitution.1Greeley Tribune. Mineral Rights Case a Warning to Others Under the terms of the deal, completing probation without incident meant the guilty plea would be withdrawn and the record expunged. Ferrari met those conditions, and his record was sealed in May 2022.2Forbes. Buyer Beware: These Yield-Gushing Oil Bonds Could Derail Your Retirement
Ferrari has maintained he did nothing wrong, calling the incident a “corporate hit job” by a competitor and saying he accepted the plea because it was the fastest way to resolve the matter. He has pointed to the written agreement with the Denver DA that no formal conviction would be entered.2Forbes. Buyer Beware: These Yield-Gushing Oil Bonds Could Derail Your Retirement His company at the time, Ferrari Energy LLC, had been a party to eight lawsuits in Weld County, three in Denver County, and one in Arapahoe County dating back to 2014. The details and outcomes of those civil cases are not well documented in available reporting.1Greeley Tribune. Mineral Rights Case a Warning to Others
Ferrari v. Francis Defamation Suit
In February 2023, Ferrari filed a defamation lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas against William Francis, CEO of Incline Energy Partners.3CourtListener. Ferrari v. Francis, 3:23-cv-00455 Ferrari alleged that Francis ran a targeted campaign in 2021 and 2022 to damage his reputation by feeding false information to financial institutions, investors, and regulators. According to the complaint, Francis told parties including First International Bank and Trust, Dalmore Capital, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority that Ferrari was a felon, was secretly running Phoenix Capital Group, and was defrauding mineral owners and investors.4Insurance Business Magazine. Mid-Continent Demands Federal Insurance Cover $400K in Texas Defense Clash
Francis moved to dismiss, but the court denied that motion in October 2023 after Ferrari filed an amended complaint. The case moved through discovery and was terminated on May 8, 2025. The docket does not specify whether the termination resulted from a settlement, a voluntary dismissal, or another resolution.3CourtListener. Ferrari v. Francis, 3:23-cv-00455
The case left behind a secondary dispute over who should pay Francis’s defense costs. Mid-Continent Casualty Company, which had defended Francis under a reservation of rights, paid more than $400,000 in legal costs and then sued Federal Insurance Company in the same Texas federal court. Mid-Continent argues it never had a duty to defend Francis and that Federal Insurance, which held a directors and officers policy covering Incline Energy Partners with a $10 million limit, should reimburse the full amount. Federal Insurance contends its policy is excess coverage. That insurance dispute remains unresolved.4Insurance Business Magazine. Mid-Continent Demands Federal Insurance Cover $400K in Texas Defense Clash
Ferrari and Phoenix Capital v. Forbes
In October 2024, Forbes published an investigative article by reporter Brandon Kochkodin titled “Buyer Beware: These Yield-Gushing Oil Bonds Could Derail Your Retirement.” The piece examined Phoenix Capital Group’s sale of high-yield private placement bonds paying 9% to 13% interest, primarily to retail investors over 55. It flagged a debt-to-EBITDA ratio that financial experts called “very, very risky,” bond collateral consisting of mineral rights and “probable reserves” that banks would not typically accept, and Ferrari’s sealed criminal history. The article also reported that three sources had told Forbes the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating Phoenix for potentially misleading statements in its bond offerings.2Forbes. Buyer Beware: These Yield-Gushing Oil Bonds Could Derail Your Retirement
Ferrari did not deny the existence of an SEC inquiry, telling Forbes the company had maintained “regular communication with the SEC for three years as a normal part of our business.” An SEC spokesperson said the agency does not comment on the existence or nonexistence of any investigation.2Forbes. Buyer Beware: These Yield-Gushing Oil Bonds Could Derail Your Retirement
On January 6, 2025, Ferrari and Phoenix Capital Group Holdings filed a defamation lawsuit against Forbes Media LLC in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. The central claim was that the article defamed the company by implying it was operating a Ponzi scheme.5Bloomberg Law. Forbes Defeats Phoenix Capital CEO’s Defamation Allegations
On August 1, 2025, Judge Gregory B. Williams dismissed the suit. In his ruling, the judge found that the article did not allege or imply that Phoenix was running a Ponzi scheme, writing that the “inferential leaps required to sustain such an implication are simply untenable.”5Bloomberg Law. Forbes Defeats Phoenix Capital CEO’s Defamation Allegations No appeal from that dismissal appears in the available record.
Who Adam Ferrari Is
Ferrari founded Phoenix Capital Group Holdings in 2019 as a family-funded venture focused on acquiring mineral rights. The company grew into a vertically integrated energy firm that buys mineral rights, holds non-operated working interests, and drills its own wells through a subsidiary called Phoenix Operating. In January 2025, it rebranded as Phoenix Energy.6Phoenix Energy. CEO Adam Ferrari on the Changing Our Name to Phoenix Energy Its principal fundraising mechanism has been corporate bonds sold directly to individual investors; its initial bond offering was qualified by the SEC under Regulation A in December 2021 and offered 9% unsecured serial bonds with a $5,000 minimum purchase and three-year maturities.7SEC. Phoenix Capital Group Holdings, Form 1-A – Amendment No. 6 That bond program is the subject the Forbes article scrutinized and the Francis suit accused a rival CEO of attacking behind the scenes.