Founder of an artificial intelligence (AI) company game on He was charged with defrauding the company’s investors.
Last week, the FBI Paid The company’s former CEO, Alexander Beckman, was charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, securities fraud and identity theft. Valerie Lau Beckman, who was married to the founder and also worked as a lawyer for GameOn, was also indicted.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, GameOn develops the A.I. chatbot software For customers including professional sports leagues and well-known retail brands.
The company raised more than $60 million from investors between September 2018 and July last year, of which Beckman and Lau allegedly used $4 million for personal expenses.
“The Bay Area is home to incredible innovation and hard-working entrepreneurs, but innovation cannot grow through fraud. Schemes like the one the defendants are accused of threaten financial markets and defraud investors. ,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Robbins said in a statement.
“This indictment should serve as a reminder that we will investigate and hold fraudsters accountable.”
Prosecutors allege Beckman’s statements to investors included non-existent earnings, inflated cash balances and false or exaggerated customer relationships. He allegedly used the names of multiple real people without their consent, including his chief financial officer, a bank employee and an employee of a “major professional sports league,” the statement added. .
Mr. Lau is accused of providing Mr. Beckman with an audit report from a venture capital firm for which Mr. Beckman worked and creating a false audit report for Game On. Prosecutors say she then intentionally shared a fake bank statement that showed Game On had $13 million in the bank, when in fact it only had $25.93 left. claims.
If convicted, both Beckman and Lau could face decades in prison.
In other fraud news, PYMNTS spoke with Radar CEO and co-founder Nick Patrick last week about the use of location technology in fraud prevention.
“Geolocation information is Modern fraud detection across many industries,” Patrick told PYMNTS. “Understanding any kind of anomalous location data sent by a particular device, or inconsistent location data across devices in the same account, can help detect fraud and stop malicious activity. It will be helpful.”
Geolocation has long been associated with consumer engagement, such as push notifications when entering a shopping mall or personalized messages at a drive-thru. However, the change fraud prevention This could be a boon for digital security, the report said.
“Scammers always scam,” Patrick said. “But with the right tools, companies can stay one step ahead.”
