Business Lawsuit Over 16,000 Fake Firms at a Northglenn Home

Colorado’s lawsuit over roughly 16,000 fake businesses registered to a single Northglenn home ended in September 2024 with a consent judgment against Marcio Garcia Andrade, who agreed to pay $75,000, dissolve every fraudulent entity he created, and stop making noncompliant filings. The case, brought by Attorney General Phil Weiser under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, exposed how a temporary fee discount let one operator flood the state’s registry with shell companies aimed at resale.

What Andrade Did

Between February 2022 and August 2023, Andrade used Colorado’s online filing system to register more than 15,600 LLCs during a window when the Colorado Business Fee Relief Act had cut LLC registration fees from $50 to $1. The scheme absorbed roughly $766,000 in taxpayer-funded fee credits.¹

The filings came from foreign IP addresses, often in batches of hundreds registered minutes apart. According to state investigators, the companies were not intended to operate. They were “shelf corporations,” entities that sit idle on paper and age until they can be sold to buyers who want to look like they run an established business. Andrade ran a website called Wholesale Shelf Corporations that marketed Colorado LLCs for roughly $10,000 to nearly $16,000 each.¹ Andrade was not a Colorado resident and was ineligible to serve as a registered agent in the state.²

The Northglenn Address

Nearly every filing listed the same townhome at 2236 East 109th Drive in Northglenn. The homeowner had not authorized Andrade to use the property as a business address or registered agent location.³ Residents told 9News they had “nothing to do with” the companies, that their mailbox stayed stuffed with junk mail for firms they’d never heard of, and that FBI and Secret Service agents knocked regularly to ask about the filings. One resident called it “more annoying than anything else.”⁴

Andrade’s attorney characterized the setup as “a clerical error and a misunderstanding,” saying Andrade had contracted with a registered agent who lived at the Northglenn address but moved without notifying him, and that Andrade held a “good faith belief” he had consent to use the property.⁵

Why the State Treated This as a Consumer Threat

The Attorney General’s Office warned the fake entities posed risks beyond paperwork. Shell companies with a Colorado address and an apparent track record can be used to obtain bank accounts, loans, and lines of credit under false pretenses. They can also bid on government contracts, conduct anonymous real estate deals, or import counterfeit goods such as fake safety equipment and medications.¹ Weiser said the filings created risks for consumers who might be drawn into transactions with illegitimate actors.²

How Colorado Caught It

The Secretary of State’s office spotted the pattern on May 10, 2023, when staff noticed a flood of new registrations all tied to the same Northglenn address and all originating from foreign IP addresses. Cross-referencing payment methods and digital logs confirmed the pattern, and on May 12 the office referred the matter to law enforcement.⁶

The Attorney General’s Consumer Fraud Unit filed a civil complaint in Denver District Court in September 2023, alleging Andrade violated the Colorado Consumer Protection Act. The state also alleged that even after the suit was filed, Andrade continued selling and transferring entities to third parties.²

How the Case Resolved

The consent judgment, filed in Denver District Court in September 2024, averted a November 2024 trial at which the state had planned to seek about $766,000 in damages.⁵ The terms:

Andrade must dissolve every fraudulent business entity he created.
Andrade will pay $75,000 over 18 months, split into $20,000 in attorney fees, a $20,000 civil penalty, and $35,000 in disgorgement of profits.²
Andrade is barred from filing any new business registrations that do not comply with Colorado law, with additional penalties for violations.³

Andrade did not admit liability. The $75,000 is well short of the roughly $766,000 in fee credits the scheme consumed. The Attorney General’s office did not pursue recovery of those credits because they were not direct cash payments to Andrade; they were fee subsidies that reduced what he owed the state for each filing.¹

What Changed in Colorado Law

The case became a catalyst for tighter filing rules. House Bill 24-1137, signed on June 3, 2024, implements recommendations from a working group the Secretary of State convened in early 2023 to study fraudulent filings.⁷

Effective July 1, 2025, individual registered agents must verify Colorado residency with a valid state-issued ID or driver’s license, or through an alternative address-verification process that requires receiving a mailed passcode. Business entities serving as registered agents must be in good standing with the Secretary of State. Post office boxes and commercial mailbox addresses are no longer allowed as a registered agent’s official address.⁸ The law also gives the Secretary of State explicit authority to mark entities as “delinquent” when they were created fraudulently and lets law enforcement agencies initiate complaints about suspicious filings.⁷

1
Colorado Sun. Thousands of Business Filings in Colorado Fraudulent, Northglenn
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The Center Square. Fraudulent Business Filings Colorado Northglenn
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Colorado Attorney General. Attorney General Phil Weiser Cracks Down on Bogus Business Filings With the State
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9News. Nearly 16 Thousand Businesses Registered to Northglenn Home
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BusinessDen. Man Who Created 16K Fake Companies Settles State’s Lawsuit
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Colorado Secretary of State Amended Complaint. Andrade Amended Complaint
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Colorado General Assembly. HB24-1137 Implement Fraudulent Filings Group Recommendations
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Colorado Secretary of State. Registered Agent Changes