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Not Cardone's First Lawsuit — Or His Tenth

Robb v. Cardone arrives at a moment when the courthouse has become an uncomfortably familiar destination for the self-styled "Uncle G." The most consequential of Cardone's ongoing legal headaches is Pino v. Cardone Capital, a putative securities class action originally filed in 2020 by investor Luis Pino and later carried forward by Christine Pino after his death. The Pino plaintiffs allege that Cardone used Instagram, YouTube, and other social platforms to push Cardone Equity Fund V and Fund VI to unaccredited investors by touting a 15 percent annual internal rate of return, downplaying fund debt, and concealing a letter from the Securities and Exchange Commission that had instructed Cardone Capital to remove those projections from its offerings because they lacked support.

A federal district judge in California initially dismissed Pino's claims, concluding that social media puffery was not actionable under the Securities Act. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed. In a published decision issued June 10, 2025, the appeals court reinstated the case, holding that sellers of securities who use social media to solicit prospective investors can be liable under Section 12(a)(2). The panel found that Pino had sufficiently alleged Cardone subjectively disbelieved the 15 percent projection he was broadcasting, and that the failure to disclose the SEC letter could amount to a material omission. The case is now scheduled for trial in March 2027 — and former senior Department of Justice fraud prosecutor Paul Pelletier, after reviewing the filings, told reporters that Cardone's business "is built on lies and deception that will likely collapse leaving investors holding an empty bag."

Pino is far from the only piece of recent litigation. In January 2026, Chealse Sophia Howell — a former Miss Canada and Miss Universe Canada delegate — filed a $500 million defamation suit against Cardone and Cardone Capital in Miami-Dade County, alleging that Cardone orchestrated a coordinated social media campaign falsely accusing her of serious criminal conduct, including human trafficking in the Middle East. The Howell case, like Robb's, centers on the explosive reach of Cardone's personal social channels and the company's alleged willingness to deploy them as weapons.

Then there is the spectacular falling-out with biohacker and 10X Health co-founder Gary Brecka. After Brecka's exit from 10X Health in November 2024, Cardone and Brecka filed dueling federal and state lawsuits accusing each other of fraud, breach of contract, and assorted business torts. The federal action filed by Cardone Ventures was settled in 2025 under terms that were not disclosed, but related state-court actions and a separate $100 million defamation suit filed by Brecka against Elena Cardone — over an Instagram clip featuring Brecka and Sean "Diddy" Combs and the caption "boy bye!" — kept the dispute alive well into 2026.

Beyond securities and defamation, Cardone has faced criticism in other arenas. A 2022 investigative report by The Palm Beach Post found that, between 2018 and 2021, the Cardone Capital-owned Wellington Club apartment complex in the Miami area overcharged tenants in a government workforce-housing program meant to provide discounted units to teachers, nurses, and first responders. In 2015 and 2016, several former employees of Cardone Training Technologies filed religious discrimination complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging they had been fired for refusing to take Scientology-based training courses — a claim that loomed over Cardone, an outspoken member of the Church of Scientology, for years. And court records from disputes over Cardone's training programs include claims from former clients who say they were locked into lengthy, inflexible contracts they could neither afford nor escape.

Cardone's twin brother Gary, who provided the seed capital for Cardone Capital, has weathered his own federal scrutiny. The Federal Trade Commission has pursued civil action against Gary Cardone's payments-related business, alleging that it helped scammers evade credit-card fraud alerts. The FTC has asked a court to shut the business down and order restitution to consumers.