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In 2008, Dan Keen founded RAI after running a tree trimming and landscaping business in Idaho.<ref name=":13" /> Initially focusing on company incorporation in the [[Pacific Northwest]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Czaban |first=Kristen |date=November 25, 2020 |title=Commercial registered agents bring business with unintended consequences |url=https://www.thesheridanpress.com/news/local/commercial-registered-agents-bring-business-with-unintended-consequences/article_8959264a-2e78-11eb-8fab-9b8d11be00ee.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220073257/https://www.thesheridanpress.com/news/local/commercial-registered-agents-bring-business-with-unintended-consequences/article_8959264a-2e78-11eb-8fab-9b8d11be00ee.html |archive-date=February 20, 2024 |access-date=March 10, 2024 |work=The Sheridan Press}}</ref> Dan Keen grew RAI into a [[registered agent]] incorporating companies throughout the United States.<ref name=":13">{{Cite magazine |last1=Turton |first1=William |last2=Mehrotra |first2=Dhruv |date=March 5, 2024 |title=Inside the Shadowy Firm Pushing the Limits of Business Privacy |url=https://www.wired.com/story/registered-agents-inc-fake-personas/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240309003004/https://www.wired.com/story/registered-agents-inc-fake-personas/ |archive-date=2024-03-09 |access-date=2024-03-10 |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028 |quote=The company routinely incorporates thousands of businesses on behalf of its customers using fake personas. Former Registered Agents Inc. employees say that the company’s widespread use of personas is an outgrowth of its founder’s obsession with privacy and a desire to push the boundaries of incorporation laws.}}</ref> According to ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'', RAI is a "one-stop shop for people seeking to incorporate a business in any US state, often in those with advantageous tax policies, while obscuring their identities."<ref name=":13" /> RAI uses [[Pseudonym|fictitious personas]] to mask the identities of its employees and to sign their customers' incorporation documents, according to ''Wired''.<ref name=":13" /> In Wyoming alone, RAI serves as the registered agent for over 50,000 companies.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Snoozy |first=Ashleigh |date=July 17, 2023 |title=Another scam recorded from business related to 30 N. Gould St. registered agent |url=https://www.thesheridanpress.com/news/local/another-scam-recorded-from-business-related-to-30-n-gould-st-registered-agent/article_52b040ca-f622-11eb-a595-e7f2de685e62.html |access-date=March 31, 2024 |work=The Sheridan Press |archive-date=February 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213213510/https://www.thesheridanpress.com/news/local/another-scam-recorded-from-business-related-to-30-n-gould-st-registered-agent/article_52b040ca-f622-11eb-a595-e7f2de685e62.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 2020, RAI threatened to sue a Wyoming newspaper, ''The Sheridan Press''',''''' after it investigated RAI as the registered agent of companies with no presence in Wyoming that had received [[CARES Act]] money.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Cenziper |first1=Debbie |last2=Fitzgibbon |first2=Will |last3=Anderson Stern |first3=Emily |last4=Korsh |first4=Michael |last5=Crites |first5=Alice |date=April 5, 2022 |title=The gatekeepers who help open America to oligarchs and scammers |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2022/tax-havens-wyoming-pandora-papers/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219171938/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2022/tax-havens-wyoming-pandora-papers/ |archive-date=February 19, 2024 |access-date=May 17, 2024 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |quote=A local newspaper, the Sheridan Press, began investigating the North Gould Street operation in 2020. It found that consumers could not reach anyone at the building. As the newspaper prepared to publish another story late last year, a lawyer for Registered Agents Inc. threatened to sue.}}</ref> In 2022, a joint investigation by ''[[The Washington Post]]'' and the [[International Consortium of Investigative Journalists]] found that RAI served as the registered agent to companies alleged to [[Money laundering|launder]] COVID-19 funds.<ref name=":12">{{Cite news |last1=Will |first1=Fitzgibbon |last2=Cenziper |first2=Debbie |last3=Crites |first3=Alice |date=April 5, 2022 |title=The gatekeepers who help open America to oligarchs and scammers |url=https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/the-gatekeepers-who-help-open-america-to-oligarchs-and-scammers/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305205425/https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/the-gatekeepers-who-help-open-america-to-oligarchs-and-scammers/ |archive-date=March 5, 2024 |access-date=March 10, 2024 |work=[[International Consortium of Investigative Journalists]] |quote=Until last month, the company listed “Bill Havre” as board president and executive director...ICIJ and The Post searched public records in Wyoming and across the United States, including voter registration and property records, and found no one listed by that name.}}</ref> The same year, [[KELO-TV]] reported that RAI served as the registered agent for a company operating illegal [[robocall]]s targeted by the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Soulek |first=Lauren |date=July 11, 2022 |title=Some scam robocalls may stem from a SD company |url=https://www.keloland.com/news/local-news/some-scam-robocalls-may-stem-from-a-sd-company/ |access-date=March 31, 2024 |work=[[KELO-TV]] |archive-date=August 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814032501/https://www.keloland.com/news/local-news/some-scam-robocalls-may-stem-from-a-sd-company/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2023, [[Reuters]] reported that RAI served as the registered agent for Russian and Somali [[cybercrime]] groups.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Satter |first=Raphael |date=December 12, 2023 |title=How cybercriminals are using Wyoming shell companies for global hacks |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/how-cybercriminals-are-using-wyoming-shell-companies-global-hacks-2023-12-12/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.is/ytB4g |archive-date=December 12, 2023 |access-date=March 31, 2024 |work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> In January 2024, RAI was reported to serve as the registered agent for a [[vital record]]s intermediary company later shut down by the Wyoming authorities for misrepresentation.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McFarland |first=Clair |date=January 19, 2024 |title=Official Wyoming Record-Keeper Warns Of Shady Online Sites Hoarding Personal Data |url=https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/01/19/official-wyoming-record-keeper-warns-of-shady-online-sites-hoarding-personal-data/ |access-date=April 1, 2024 |work=Cowboy State Daily |archive-date=April 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240401211318/https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/01/19/official-wyoming-record-keeper-warns-of-shady-online-sites-hoarding-personal-data/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The same year, an RAI-registered company was linked to an organization providing [[dark money]] to political campaigns, and another was linked to an election [[disinformation]] operation involving a proposed library bond.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Racker |first1=Mini |last2=Sollenberger |first2=Roger |date=May 16, 2024 |title=This Mysterious New GOP Dark Money Group Raises All Kinds of Red Flags |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/mysterious-gop-dark-money-group-ardleigh-impact-corp-raises-all-kinds-of-red-flags |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516175326/https://www.thedailybeast.com/mysterious-gop-dark-money-group-ardleigh-impact-corp-raises-all-kinds-of-red-flags |archive-date=May 16, 2024 |access-date=June 4, 2024 |work=[[The Daily Beast]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hussein |first=Tayeba |date=March 10, 2024 |title=Dirty tricks in Maitland library campaign? Hit mailer flouts political laws |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2024/03/10/dirty-tricks-in-maitland-library-campaign-hit-mailer-flouts-political-laws/ |access-date=April 3, 2024 |work=[[Orlando Sentinel]] |archive-date=March 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317154856/https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2024/03/10/dirty-tricks-in-maitland-library-campaign-hit-mailer-flouts-political-laws/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In May 2024, Wyoming Secretary of State [[Chuck Gray (Wyoming politician)|Chuck Gray]] dissolved three companies registered by RAI that the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) found to be linked to fraud directed by North Korea's [[Ministry of Defence (North Korea)|Ministry of Defence]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Turton |first=William |date=June 5, 2024 |title=A US Company Enabled a North Korean Scam That Raised Money for WMDs |url=https://www.wired.com/story/registered-agents-north-korean-scam-wmds/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605095940/https://www.wired.com/story/registered-agents-north-korean-scam-wmds/ |archive-date=June 5, 2024 |access-date=June 5, 2024 |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Wolfson |first=Leo |date=May 21, 2024 |title=Chuck Gray Strips North Korean Businesses Of Wyoming Licenses After Flagged By FBI |url=https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/05/21/chuck-gray-strips-3-north-korea-businesses-flagged-by-fbi-of-wyoming-licenses/ |access-date=May 23, 2024 |work=Cowboy State Daily |archive-date=May 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522002142/https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/05/21/chuck-gray-strips-3-north-korea-businesses-flagged-by-fbi-of-wyoming-licenses/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Gookin |first=Marit |date=May 22, 2024 |title=North Korean businesses registered under false information dissolved |url=https://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/news/wyoming/article_d053d555-954e-56c2-86f6-5f44e6afa2f6.html |access-date=May 23, 2024 |work=[[Gillette News Record]] |archive-date=May 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522190807/https://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/news/wyoming/article_d053d555-954e-56c2-86f6-5f44e6afa2f6.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
== Subsidiaries ==
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