He was arrested and charged with mail fraud

One of the interesting facts about Marcus Garvey is that he was arrested and charged with mail fraud in January 1922 for advertising the sale of stocks in a ship, the Orion, that the Black Star Line did not yet own. He was bailed for $2,500. Hoover and the BOI were determined to get a conviction; they had also received complaints from a small number of Black Star Line stockholders, who urged them to look into the situation further. Garvey spoke out against the allegations, but he blamed them on competing for African-American groups rather than the state. In addition to alleging angry former UNIA members, he claimed in a Liberty Hall speech that the NAACP was behind the conspiracy to imprison him. The mainstream press picked up on the claim, portraying Garvey as a scam artist who had duped African-Americans.

Following his arrest, Garvey said that the BSL's operations would be halted. He also planned a trip to the western and southern states. This included a march in Los Angeles, which was intended to entice members of UNIA's California chapter, who had lately splintered off to form its own organization. Garvey met with Edward Young Clarke, the Imperial Wizard pro tempore of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), in the Klan's Atlanta headquarters in June 1922. The meeting between Garvey and the KKK quickly became public, and it was featured on the front pages of numerous African-American newspapers, provoking great outrage. When the meeting was discovered, African Americans were surprised and angry; Grant noted that it was the most crucial turning point in his popularity.