Former Utah ‘Shark Tank’ contestant admits to fraud, sexual battery

PROVO, Utah — An Orem entrepreneur who appeared on “Shark Tank” has admitted to fraud and sexual battery, responding to charges claiming he defrauded multiple women he was romantically involved with and inappropriately touching women.

Nathanael “Nate” Reid Holzapfel, 44, pleaded guilty in 4th District Court on June 21 to three counts of communications fraud, a second-degree felony, and three counts of sexual battery, a class A misdemeanor.

In a statement supporting the plea — which addressed eight different cases filed against him — Holzapfel admitted to defrauding a woman he was dating between February and November 2020 and convincing two other women to invest in his businesses, but not passing any investment returns to them.

Holzapfel caused the woman he was dating to lose her home, which was built specifically to accommodate her disabled son, according to charging documents. He convinced her to transfer money in her home to Save My House LLC — a company he claimed would protect the equity in her home.

Charging documents for one case said that in September 2021, Holzapfel told a widow he met on Tinder, while he was married, that he would invest $50,000 from her late husband’s life insurance in his company Bristol and Beard, offering her a 10% return and $1 million after the company sold. The woman never received any money.

In another case, charging documents said Holzapfel met a woman in September 2020 and convinced her to invest $100,000 in his company, which he misrepresented to her. Shortly after he received the money, he stopped communicating with the woman.

He also admitted in the plea deal to touching the breast of one woman and the buttocks of two different women in 2020 and 2021.

As part of a plea deal, prosecutors agreed to dismiss three additional counts of communications fraud, three counts of theft by deception, one charge of engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, four counts of forcible sexual abuse, theft, being an unlicensed broker and four counts of lewdness — completely dismissing two of the eight cases.

The plea deal also included an agreement for no additional jail time and for the state to resolve all cases and investigations against Holzapfel.

The plea statement said Holzapfel can withdraw his plea if the judge does not follow the terms the attorneys agreed upon.

As part of the plea, Holzapfel agreed to pay $300,000 to the fraud victims, repaying each victim between $50,000 and $150,000, to not have contact with the victims, to receive mental health treatment, to be listed on the state’s white-collar crime registry and serve 48 months of probation.

If Holzapfel completes probation successfully, the plea agreement suggests that his second-degree felony convictions could be reduced to class A misdemeanors and his name could be removed from the white-collar crime registry.

Fourth District Judge Thomas Low will sentence Holzapfel and decide whether to follow the recommendations in the plea statement. The sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 4.

Holzapfel appeared on ABC’s “Shark Tank” TV show in 2013 to pitch the Mission Belt, a belt that uses a ratchet instead of a buckle so it is able to adjust to any size. He was a co-founder of the company, which he left several years ago.