On January 25, 2024, a federal jury in Texas convicted Christopher Kirchner, the founder of supply-chain logistics company Slync, for misappropriating at least $25 million in investor funds. After a four-day trial in the Northern District of Texas, Kirchner was convicted of four counts of wire fraud and seven counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity.
According to court documents, Kirchner was terminated in 2022 by the Board of Directors for his conversion of at least $25 million in investor funds – funds that he allegedly used to purchase luxury items, including a $16 million private jet. Slync allegedly raised approximately $7 million as part of a Series A investment round and roughly $50 million in a Series B investment round – money that was intended for product development and other corporate purposes. However, between April 2020 and March 2022, Kirchner initiated nearly 100 wire transfers to divert millions of dollars in company funds from Slync’s Silicon Valley bank account into a company bank account that only he could access. From there, Kirchner allegedly transferred a majority of the funds into his personal bank accounts. According to federal prosecutors, when the company began struggling to make payroll in the spring of 2022, Kirchner fraudulently collected approximately $850,000 from at least four investors as part of a purported Series C investment round, which was never authorized by the Board of Directors. Kirchner made other efforts to conceal the missing funds, including an attempt to delete approximately 18 gigabytes of data from Slync’s computer system and offering a variety of false explanations for the Slync’s payroll issues.
Kirchner is currently scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, 2024.
USAO NDTX Press Release | Sentencing Order | Indictment | USAO NDTX Press Release (May 2023) | USAO NDTX Press Release (February 2023)