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A federal court in Manhattan has sentenced Gokce Guven, the 27-year-old founder of technology startup Kalder, to 25 months in prison for carrying out a 6.7 million dollar investor fraud. Guven, a Turkish national who was previously featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, was ordered by US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to forfeit 6,717,997 dollars and pay an equal amount in restitution to defrauded investors. Federal prosecutors established that she deceived more than a dozen venture capital backers through falsified balance sheets, inflated revenue statements, and forged client agreements.
Fabricated Partnerships and Dual Accounting
Guven founded Kalder in New York in 2022 to provide loyalty and rewards software for commercial brands. During a seed fundraising effort launched in April 2024, she presented marketing decks asserting that 26 brands were actively using Kalder’s platform and that 53 additional companies were onboarding through an introductory program. Federal investigators found that several of these brands had never entered into contracts with Kalder, while others had only agreed to short-term pilot arrangements at reduced rates.
To project financial momentum, pitch materials asserted that Kalder’s annual recurring revenue had expanded on a monthly basis, hitting 1.2 million dollars by March 2024. Prosecutors revealed that Guven kept two separate accounting records to sustain the misrepresentation. An external accounting firm handled the legitimate records reflecting the firm’s actual financial condition, while Guven distributed a second, falsified ledger containing fabricated metrics to prospective financiers alongside a forged corporate partnership agreement.
Visa Fraud and Forged Endorsements
The federal inquiry also revealed that Guven engaged in immigration fraud to remain in the United States after her student visa expired. She applied for an O-1A visa, a category designated for foreign nationals possessing extraordinary ability in fields such as business, science, and education. To support her petition, Guven recycled the fraudulent commercial metrics she had shown to investors and submitted forged recommendation letters bearing the names of prominent corporate figures.
Prosecutors confirmed that Guven signed the recommendation documents herself without the knowledge, authorization, or consent of the named executives. Her O-1A visa was approved in the autumn of 2025, but federal authorities revoked it following her arrest on November 27, 2025. Additional federal charges filed in January 2026 included securities fraud, wire fraud, visa fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
Guilty Plea and Regulatory Sanctions
Prior to the criminal investigation, Guven had established a high profile in the technology sector as a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. In 2025, Forbes selected her for its 30 Under 30 list in the marketing and advertising category, featuring her on its cover while reporting that Kalder had attained a valuation of 35 million dollars after raising 11 million dollars.
Guven formally resolved the criminal case on May 15 by pleading guilty to one count of securities fraud, a charge carrying a statutory maximum term of five years. Under the plea agreement, she consented to the forfeiture of nearly 7 million dollars. The US Securities and Exchange Commission separately initiated civil proceedings against Guven and Kalder on October 2, securing a proposed settlement that imposes a six-year ban on her serving as an officer or director of any public firm, with disgorgement figures and civil penalties awaiting final judicial determination.
