Gökçe Güven, CEO of New York fintech startup Kalder, was charged last week with $7 million in securities fraud, wire fraud, visa fraud, and aggravated identity theft. She's 26, Turkish, and made Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in 2025.
This is the third Forbes 30 Under 30 fintech founder to face fraud charges in two years. Sam Bankman-Fried got 25 years for defrauding FTX customers of billions. Charlie Javice received 85 months for fabricating 4 million users to sell Frank to JPMorgan for $175 million. The pattern is clear.
Kalder, founded in 2022, claims to help companies monetize rewards programs through affiliate revenue. Prosecutors allege Güven misrepresented the company's metrics and achievements to secure funding and her O-1 'Extraordinary Ability' visa. The visa fraud charge is notable: it suggests inflated credentials beyond just investor pitches.
What this means for enterprise buyers
If you're evaluating fintech vendors, especially early-stage ones, the due diligence implications are obvious. Three things to verify:
Customer claims. Ask for verifiable implementation details, not testimonials. If a startup claims major clients, talk to them directly.
Compliance infrastructure. Seed-stage fintechs often lack proper AML/KYC monitoring. Tools like Sedric AI and ComplyTry offer compliance automation, but implementation matters more than vendor choice. Ask how they handle sanctions screening and transaction monitoring in practice.
Fraud detection capability. If they're processing payments, ask about their fraud detection stack. Real-time ML models require training data and ongoing tuning. A startup claiming sophisticated fraud detection without showing their work is a red flag.
The Forbes list vetting process has been questioned before. Martin Shkreli, also an alumnus, was convicted of securities fraud. The magazine's criteria apparently don't include background checks.
Güven says she plans to address the charges publicly this week. We'll see. History suggests the initial response matters less than what discovery reveals.