Christine Hunsicker, who founded the fashion technology platform CaaStle to much acclaim but in the end used it to bilk investors out of $300 million in a complicated fraud scheme, has been sentenced to five years in prison on one count of securities fraud.
In addition, she has been sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay forfeiture and restitution totaling $283,291,940.
The sentence was handed down Thursday by U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken. Hunsicker, 49, had pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud last March. She had faced up to 20 years in prison.
“Christine Hunsicker perpetrated a large-scale fraud at CaaStle, falsely promoting her fashion-tech startup as a billion dollar success when it was counterfeit,” said Jamie McDonald, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, which brought the case. “Using forged documents and fabricated audits, Hunsicker stole $300 million from unwitting investors who believed her falsehoods.
“Besides harming investors in private markets, fraud in a startup space stunts growth and dims innovation,” he added.
