Startup founder Chris Kirchner sentenced to 20 years in prison for misappropriation of funds
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Startup founder, Chris Kirchner was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on Thursday (Jul 11) after being convicted of money laundering, defrauding investors, and wire fraud. He allegedly used his funders' money amounting to $25 million for personal use.
The former CEO and founder of Slync, a supply chain tech startup, Kirchner, raised over $50 million from leading investors including Goldman Sachs from 2018 to 2021. He will be serving his prison time in Dallas, Fort Worth and has been ordered to pay about $65 million in restitution by the court.
Kirchner was terminated from his position as CEO by the board of directors in 2022. He was initially charged with misappropriating more than $20 million of the company funds in February 2023 and was raided by the FBI at his residence in West Lake, Texas.
Over two years, Kirchner also raised over $71 million fraudulently from various investors through false representations of his business finances and revenue. The evidence suggests he also misappropriated over $25 million of funds from investors.
According to the US Attorney's office in the Northern District of Texas, he wired $20 million directlyto his personal account and used the company's funds for himself through multiple accounts in 100 different transactions.
“Even as his company was circling the drain, Chris Kirchner was spending millions of his investors’ money on himself. Apparently, projecting personal prosperity was more important to him than making payroll,” said US Attorney Leigha Simonton. “His duplicity earned him 20 years in prison. We are proud to hold him accountable for his crimes and are committed to pursuing all businesspeople engaged in criminal conduct.”
Slync initially attracted attention in 2022 by indulging in pricey sports sponsorships which is unusual for a startup. According to Business Insider, a staff revealed they hadn't received their paycheck for weeks, the same year in June.
(With inputs from agencies)
