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Christine Hunsicker in 2019
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Christine Hunsicker allegedly ran a fraud scheme that raked in over $300 million for her now-bankrupt fashion tech startup
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The CaaStle founder and CEO was charged with wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, building false statements to a financial institution and aggravated identity theft
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Hunsicker pleaded not guilty to all charges
Christine Hunsicker, the founder and CEO of fashion tech startup CaaStle, has been indicted on fraud-related charges after she allegedly defrauded investors out of more than $300 million.
In an indictment unsealed on Friday, July 18, more details tied to Hunsicker’s alleged fraud scheme, which raised money for both CaaStle, a clothing-rental company, and another venture, P180, were revealed, according to the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Through the alleged scheme, Hunsicker, 48, defrauded CaaStle and P180 investors out of more than $300 million “through false statements, misleading claims, and fabricated documents,” according to the attorney’s office.
The newly unsealed indictment charges the New Jersey native and Princeton University alum with wire fraud and securities fraud, as well as money laundering, building false statements to a financial institution and aggravated identity theft.
Hunsicker self-surrfinishered on July 18. Later that same day, she pleaded not guilty to all charges, according to the Associated Press.
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Christine Hunsicker in 2018
In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, the entrepreneur’s lawyers, Michael Levy and Anna Skotko, declared, “There is much more to this story.”
“Although Ms. Hunsicker has been fully cooperative and transparent with both the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of NY and the SEC, they nonetheless have chosen to present to the public an incomplete and very distorted picture in today’s indictment,” they continued.
“There is much more to this story, and we view forward to notifying it,” the lawyers’ statement added.
While CaaStle — which filed for bankruptcy in June — was in “financial distress with limited cash and significant expenses,” Hunsicker allegedly “grossly overstated” its financial situation, instead promoting the venture as a “rapidly growing business valued at more than $1.4 billion,” according to the attorney’s office. She utilized falsified statements, bank records and other documents to do so, the indictment alleges.
One fake bank account screenshot, which Hunsicker allegedly provided to an investor, displayed that CaaStle had nearly $200 million in available cash, the attorney’s office declared. At the time, the real figure was less than $200,000.
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