SAN FRANCISCO — The grim halls of justice echo with the news that Abraham Shafi, 38, former CEO and Founder of Get Together, has been indicted for a colossal $170 million wire fraud scheme. This Silicon Valley startup, known as ‘IRL,’ was supposed to be the next big thing in social media, but it’s now synonymous with scandal.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Shafi is accused of lying to potential investors about IRL’s finances during its 2021 ‘Series C’ funding round. He claimed that the company spent just $50,000 a month on paid advertising and that user signups were not incentivized or paid. The truth? Millions were funneled into incentive advertising, rewarding users for downloading the app.
Shafi’s deceit didn’t stop there. He instructed his vendor to inflate ad spending and had it invoiced under a different name to hide the true costs. After the funding round, he continued to deceive investors by creating false invoices and falsely representing the use of funds for other advertising methods.
When the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began their investigation, Shafi deleted records and instructed his employees to lie about his involvement, a move that only solidified his obstruction charges. The DOJ has charged him with wire fraud, securities fraud, and obstruction of justice, carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count.
The case has been assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sailaja Paidipaty and Evan Mateer for the Northern District of California, with Acting Assistant Chief Attorney Laura Connelly of the Fraud Section handling the prosecution. The FBI is currently investigating the matter further.
As this high-stakes drama unfolds in the courtroom, one thing remains clear: Abraham Shafi’s dream of building a billion-dollar social media empire has turned into a nightmare of fraud and deceit.
RELATED: Shafi Charged: $170M Silicon Valley Scam
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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