Two prominent Texas real estate firms, S2 Capital and Fort Capital LP, are pursuing action against Jakub Kostecki, a Colorado man with a controversial history of alleged fraud and extortion. Both companies claim Kostecki has engaged in a targeted campaign of defamation and extortion, aimed at damaging their reputations and leveraging those attacks for personal financial gain.
S2 Capital, a Dallas-based real estate investment firm, filed a defamation lawsuit against Kostecki this week in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The suit, brought by S2 Capital and its CEO, Scott Everett, alleges that Kostecki used the alias "LPWhisperer" on social media platform X to disseminate false and damaging statements about the company and its leadership.
The legal team representing S2 Capital, led by Thomas A. Clare and David Sillers of Clare Locke LLP, argues that Kostecki's actions constitute defamation.
The lawsuit also says Kostecki posted pictures of Everett's family and home alongside defamatory statements. The filing suggests that Kostecki may have conspired with others, including his family members, by demanding payment to remove the defamatory posts, and directing the funds be deposited to his son's bank account.
Earlier in the same week, Fort Capital LP, another real estate investment firm based in Fort Worth, announced that it reported Kostecki to federal law enforcement, triggering an investigation by the FBI.
Fort Capital, which has completed over $2.1 billion in real estate transactions across Texas, Florida, and Tennessee, claims that Kostecki attempted to extort the company by demanding a lump-sum cryptocurrency payment in exchange for halting negative online posts.
Fort Capital first became aware of Kostecki's actions in June when the "LPWhisperer" account began posting false claims about the firm on X. The posts reportedly included threats to publicize damaging information through specific media outlets if the company did not comply with his demands.
Upon confrontation by both companies, they say Kostecki escalated his efforts, continuing to post defamatory content and intensifying his demands for payment.
Fort Capital, under its founder and CEO Chris Powers, responded by collaborating with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's office to investigate the alleged extortion attempt.
In a statement, Powers said he took the action to protect his firm's reputation and the trust of its investors, and to say that no invested funds were at risk.
The allegations against Kostecki are not isolated incidents. The companies say that Kostecki, originally from Poland, has a history marked by legal troubles. He is wanted in Poland on an arrest warrant for tax evasion and other offenses. Additionally, in 2020, a U.S. civil court found Kostecki liable for defrauding victims in a cryptocurrency marketing scheme.
The lawsuit filed by S2 Capital references Kostecki's string of failed businesses and his practice of promising start-up founders help with entering the U.S. market, only to demand advance payments for services that the legal filing says were never delivered. When the entrepreneurs sought refunds, the S2 filing says Kostecki threatened them with legal actions, including to take their intellectual property.
Fort Capital founder and CEO Chris Powers | Fort Companies
