Christopher Kirchner, the 36-year-old founder of Slync, a supply-chain management software startup, has been found guilty of defrauding investors out of at least $25 million. The verdict was announced by U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Leigha Simonton.
Kirchner, who served as Slync’s CEO from 2017 until 2022, was charged with wire fraud and money laundering last month. After a four-day trial, a jury convicted him today on four counts of wire fraud and seven counts of engaging in monetary transactions derived from unlawful activity.
Evidence presented during the trial revealed that Kirchner misappropriated investor funds in various ways. Between April 2020 and March 2022, he initiated nearly 100 wire transfers from Slync’s Silicon Valley Bank account to an account at JPMorgan Chase Bank, accessible only to him. He then transferred much of the money to his personal accounts, including $20 million directly from Slync’s Silicon Valley Bank account into his personal checking account.
The funds were used for personal expenses, including the purchase of a $16 million private jet and securing a luxury suite at a Dallas-area professional sports team's stadium.
When Slync faced financial difficulties in making payroll, Kirchner attempted to replace the misappropriated funds by convincing at least four investors to wire approximately $850,000 under the guise of a Series C investment round, which the Board of Directors never authorized.
Further, Kirchner offered false explanations for the payroll issues and fired an employee who reported potential exaggerations of Slync’s financial performance to investors. Following his suspension by the Board of Directors in late July 2022, Kirchner took measures to hinder access to Slync's computer systems, attempting to delete around 18 gigabytes of company data, including emails.
Kirchner now faces a potential sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison for each wire fraud count and up to 10 years for each count of engaging in monetary transactions derived from specified unlawful activity.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office.
