Archive · 23 Jul 2025
Escobar Fold Scam: MKBHD's Investigation Ends with Guilty Plea
Tech YouTuber MKBHD investigated Escobar Inc., a company that claimed to sell cheap foldable phones.
The company was linked to the brother of Pablo Escobar.
MKBHD ordered phones but never received them, or received re-branded devices.
The company's CEO has pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering.
He faces prison time and must pay back money to those who were scammed.
YouTuber MKBHD exposed Escobar Inc.'s scam in 2020.
Escobar Inc. offered foldable smartphones at very low prices, raising suspicions.
The company's CEO, Olof Kyros Gustafsson, pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering in 2025.
MKBHD received devices that were either never delivered or were rebranded phones.
Gustafsson faces up to 20 years in prison and has to pay $1.3 million in restitution.
- Who
- MKBHD (Marques Brownlee) exposed the scam, and Olof Kyros Gustafsson was the CEO of Escobar Inc.
- What
- Escobar Inc., a company selling suspect smartphones, was exposed as a scam.
- When
- The scam was revealed in 2020, with the CEO pleading guilty in 2025.
- Where
- The scam involved online orders and was investigated by the FBI and Spanish police.
- Why
- Escobar Inc. was running a fraudulent scheme to make money by taking payments for phones it did not deliver.
Victims
Olof Kyros Gustafsson
Customer Payments
Victims
Customers lost money buying phones they never received.
Olof Kyros Gustafsson
Olof Kyros Gustafsson's company did defraud its customers.
- Company
- Escobar Inc.
- CEO
- Olof Kyros Gustafsson
- YouTuber
- MKBHD
- Charges
- Fraud and Money Laundering
- Potential Prison Sentence
- Up to 20 years
- Restitution
- $1.3 million
- Original year of investigation
- 2020