fraud

Aspiration co-founder to plead guilty to $248M fraud scheme

Fintech /

Sustainability-focused fintech Aspiration was flying high a few years ago, attracting famous investors including Orlando Bloom, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Robert Downey Jr. Now, its co-founder will plead guilty to helping perpetuate a $248 million fraud scheme, according to U.S. attorneys. Joseph Sanberg, who was arrested in March, has agreed to plead guilty to two counts […]

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Match to pay $14M to the FTC due to false advertising and other deceptive practices

Government & Policy /

Back in 2019, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued the dating app giant Match Group, accusing it of deceiving Match.com users into purchasing subscriptions through misleading means. Now, after six years, the company— which operates popular dating apps Match, Tinder, OkCupid, Hinge, and Plenty of Fish—has agreed to a $14 million settlement, as announced

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CaaStle founder charged with fraud, turns herself in

Venture /

Christine Hunsicker, founder of the fashion startup CaaStle, turned herself in to authorities Friday to face fraud charges, authorities confirmed to Bloomberg.  The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York unsealed an indictment against her, charging her with wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, aggravated identity theft, and lying to financial institutions. She

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US government takes down major North Korean ‘remote IT workers’ operation 

Security /

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Monday that it had taken several enforcement actions against North Korea’s money-making operations, which rely on undercover remote IT workers inside American tech companies to raise funds for the regime’s nuclear weapons program, as well as to steal data and cryptocurrency.   As part of the DOJ’s multi-state effort,

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Javice found guilty of defrauding JPMorgan in $175M startup purchase

Fintech /

Charlie Javice, the founder of student loan application startup Frank that was purchased by JPMorgan for $175 million, was found guilty on Friday of defrauding the bank by greatly inflating the customer count. After a five-week trial, the jury found Javice guilty, agreeing with prosecutors’ claims that she fabricated the vast majority of Frank’s customer

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Aspiration co-founder and board member defrauded investors of $145M, prosecutors say

Fintech /

Just over four years ago, climate friendly fintech startup Aspiration was on the verge of a $2 billion public listing. Now, one of the startup’s board members has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and one of the co-founders has been arrested for allegedly conspiring to defraud investors, according to a federal criminal complaint filed by

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Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon will face fraud charges in the U.S.

Cypto /

Do Kwon, the co-founder of collapsed cryptocurrency startup Terraform Labs, will be extradited from Montenegro to the U.S. to face federal fraud charges, as first reported by Bloomberg. Kwon faces charges in both the U.S. and South Korea; Terraform Labs’ TerraUSD and Luna cryptocurrencies crashed in 2022, causing investors to lose over $40 billion. Terraform

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Texas firm says it lost $60M in a bank wire transfer scam

Security /

Texas-based carbon black company Orion informed investors that it lost $60 million after falling victim to a criminal scheme that resulted in “multiple fraudulently induced outbound wire transfers to accounts controlled by unknown third parties.”  No further specifics were given, but these schemes typically involve fraudsters tricking employees at a company — often in finance

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SEC charges crypto firm NovaTech with fraud

Government & Policy /

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is suing a crypto startup, NovaTech, for allegedly fraudulently raising more than $650 million from over 200,000 investors, many in the Haitian-American community. The SEC frames NovaTech, founded in 2019 by husband-and-wife duo Cynthia and Eddy Petion, as a multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme — one that lured investors

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Meta, Match, Coinbase and others team up to fight online fraud and crypto scams

Fintech /

Hosting scams on your platform is bad for business, which is why on Tuesday, a group of major tech companies including Match Group, Meta, Coinbase and others are jointly launching a new coalition to take on online fraud across dating apps, social media and crypto. The new coalition, Tech Against Scams, will work together to

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