Search
Close this search box.
Blog » News » $170 million fraud claims aimed at social media founder

$170 million fraud claims aimed at social media founder

Fraud charges aimed at social media founder

The Securities and Exchange Commission has levied a $170 million case against a social media company founder.

The government watchdogs took the decision to investigate Abraham Shafi, the owner and chief operating officer of Get Together Inc. The charges come at the individual for claims that he exaggerated the company’s worth and for a litany of personal uses of company assets.

Get Together Inc CEO charged by SEC

Get Together Inc is also more commonly known in the public domain as the parent company of social media start-up IRL.

Shafi is being investigated by the SEC for inflating the company’s stance as an organically grown social media entity. According to the SEC complaint, Shafti mislead investors that the base of it’s social media following was generated from scratch.

The SEC found that this wasn’t the case, and Shafti instead paid millions of dollars into aggressive advertising and incentives for people to download the app.

“As we alleged, Shafi took advantage of investors’ appetite for investments in the pre-IPO technology space and fraudulently raised approximately $170 million by lying about IRL’s business practices,” said Monique C. Winkler, Director of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office.

Shafti allegedly buried the advertising drive in the company books and through third party expenditure. He is also alleged to have charges hundreds of thousands of dollars to company credit cards for a lavish lifestyle.

His fiancée, Barbara Woortmann, is also complicit in the complaints that she used the company credit cards for “personal expenses, including for clothing, home furnishings, and travel.”

The SEC filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The government entity charges Shafti with “violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and seeks permanent injunctive relief, civil money penalties, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and an officer-and-director bar against Shafi.”

His fiancée has been included in the charges as a relief defendant for their actions in spending company finances on themselves.

Image: Pixlr.

About Due’s Editorial Process

We uphold a strict editorial policy that focuses on factual accuracy, relevance, and impartiality. Our content, created by leading finance and industry experts, is reviewed by a team of seasoned editors to ensure compliance with the highest standards in reporting and publishing.

TAGS
Financial News Writer and Editor
Brian-Damien Morgan, an accomplished journalist and features writer, boasts a rich career that has evolved across various media platforms. With extensive experience in the print sector of several UK newspapers, Brian transitioned seamlessly into the realm of digital broadcasting and specialized financial content creation. Brian now focuses on finance, technology, legal matters, and the wide spectrum of money-related topics.

About Due

Due makes it easier to retire on your terms. We give you a realistic view on exactly where you’re at financially so when you retire you know how much money you’ll get each month. Get started today.

Categories

Top Trending Posts

Due Fact-Checking Standards and Processes

To ensure we’re putting out the highest content standards, we sought out the help of certified financial experts and accredited individuals to verify our advice. We also rely on them for the most up to date information and data to make sure our in-depth research has the facts right, for today… Not yesterday. Our financial expert review board allows our readers to not only trust the information they are reading but to act on it as well. Most of our authors are CFP (Certified Financial Planners) or CRPC (Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor) certified and all have college degrees. Learn more about annuities, retirement advice and take the correct steps towards financial freedom and knowing exactly where you stand today. Learn everything about our top-notch financial expert reviews below… Learn More