Suicidal Plymouth man at center of alleged $15M business scheme

A Plymouth neighborhood became the focus of police activity for nearly 16 hours Sunday night into Monday morning on the report of a suicidal man. As it turns out, that man and the man’s wife are accused of cheating people out of $15 million in a bogus business scheme.

Police arrested Matthew Tieva, 43, of Plymouth, at about 10:45 a.m. Monday. The incident took place in the 5200 block of Black Oaks Lane N. Dramatic video taken by a neighbor shows police with guns drawn as they arrested him face down on the street.

A couple of neighbors on the block said that authorities evacuated them from their houses for 14 hours. They described the scene as “chaotic and scary” with helicopters and drones flying around the block.

“Neighbors in the area probably saw a lot of police activity,” said Plymouth Deputy Chief Erik Fadden. “A lot of police cars, a lot of people in the area.”

Police were initially called at 6:45 p.m. Sunday to check on a potential crisis situation involving a man with a gun. Plymouth police along with officers from Maple Grove, Minnetonka, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota State Patrol teamed up to find the man, who neighbors identified as Tieva. Authorities took the man to North Memorial Health Hospital for observation.

Complaints Against Sellers Playbook

Tieva and his wife, Jessie Conners Tieva, face nine fraud counts, according to a complaint filed in federal court by the Federal Trade Commission and the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office.

The complaint says the couple created a company called Sellers Playbook. The company conducted business training that the couple claimed could help their customers earn as much as $20,000 a month by promoting goods on Amazon. The scheme helped the couple collect more than $15 million from consumers, the complaint said.

Jessie Conners Tieva appeared on such television shows as Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice” and “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

Plymouth