X Strategies, a social media consulting company with ties to President Donald Trump, sued its co-founder and former executive for embezzling and gambling away millions in company funds, according to a Sept. 18 complaint filed in a Florida court.
The Palm Beach, Fl.-based business alleges Derek Utley — who cofounded the businesses in 2017 alongside Alexander Bruesewitz — “exploited his exclusive control” over the company’s financials in a period beginning in 2021 until 2026, to siphon and gamble with company funds at casinos, the complaint filed Sept. 18 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida alleges.
“Using the Company’s money, Utley won a total of $26,000,000 playing slots at a single casino in a single year (spending 200 days out of the year in that casino),” the complaint alleges. “Utley, however, also lost $29,000,000 at this casino during the same time period, ultimately leading to a net loss of $3,000,000."
X Strategies provides social media strategy and political consulting services, according to its website. The business reportedly runs some of President Donald Trump’s social media accounts, according to reports by Politico.
According to the complaint, Utley served both as the company’s chairman and as its CFO from its 2017 founding through his termination in early 2026, and owned 50% of the business through Stark Defense Industries, a fellow defendant.
“I was never the CFO. I dispute these allegations,” Utley told CFO Dive in response to a request for comment on LinkedIn. “I will be responding via the legal process. I have no further comment at this time.”
Paul Punzone, a partner with Holland Knight LLP and lead attorney for X Strategies, told CFO Dive they had no comment on Utley’s assertion that he was never finance chief of the company and that the complaint speaks for itself.
“We stand behind the allegations of the complaint,” Punzone said.
X Strategies in the complaint describes a “brazen, complex and multifaceted,” embezzlement scheme wherein Utley tapped company funds to bankroll an “extravagant lifestyle.” As part of the scheme, Utley purchased luxury sports cars, designer jewelry and first-class airfare travel, including buying luxury items for his then-girlfriend and fellow defendant, Anna Weisheimer, the complaint alleges.
Weisheimer “has nothing to do” with the dispute between Utley and X Strategies, Utley told CFO Dive.
Utley’s embezzlement became more brazen alongside a growing gambling addiction, with Utley spending 200 days in 2025 alone gambling at the Hard Rock Casino in South Florida, according to the suit. When gambling, Utley would keep any winnings, but cause “X Strategies to absorb the losses,” the complaint alleges.
An ongoing forensic audit of the business’ finances shows Utley embezzled at least $5 million from X Strategies, the complaint states.
The former executive obfuscated his scheme in multiple ways, including by disguising personal withdrawals from Stark Industries as legitimate business transactions. He also “flooded” X Strategies’ bank statements with a “high volume of financial transactions on a near-daily basis, moving funds among different company accounts and transferring money into and out of those accounts, in order to conceal the unauthorized withdrawals,” the complaint alleges.
The business became aware of Utley’s scheme earlier in 2026 when Michael Siefert joined X Strategies as its president, according to the suit. Upon joining, Seifert immediately identified financial discrepancies, calculating that company’s cash on hand was “mathematically inconsistent” with its reported revenues and it should have had millions more in cash on hand than it did.
After moving to conduct an audit and gaining access to the company’s financial statements, Seifert confronted Utley about the theft.
“Utley then ultimately admitted to Seifert that he stole millions of dollars from X Strategies,” the complaint noted. “Utley blamed the theft on his low self-esteem, his desire to have more influence and impress others, and his gambling and alcohol addictions.”
On April 3, Utley voluntarily stepped down from his roles at the company and Stark Industries voluntarily relinquished its ownership interest, but the company briefly retained Utley as an employee on a temporary basis with responsibilities for sales and client relations.
His employment was ultimately terminated, but the company alleges after his departure, Utley then engaged in a “calculated campaign to sabotage X Strategies’ client relationships, steal customers, divert funds from X Strategies, and disparage X Strategies to current and prospective clients.”
According to the complaint, Utley “currently identifies himself” as the President of Tower Strategy, a former client and now competitor. A company webpage currently lists Utley as a “partner” of Tower Strategy, while his LinkedIn profile presently lists him as a private investor and entrepreneur. Tower did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation of his role.
X is seeking compensatory and special damages in an amount to be determined but believed to be in excess of $5 million, disgorgement of all profits and benefits obtaiend by Utley from his conduct, and punitive damages, among others, according to the complaint.
