Fashion Startup Founder Pleads Guilty in $300 Million Fraud (1)

The founder of fashion-rental and technology company CaaStle Inc. pleaded guilty to vastly inflating revenue figures to defraud investors who poured more than $300 million into her company.

Christine Hunsicker pleaded guilty to a single charge of securities fraud in Manhattan federal court Wednesday, admitting she falsified financial statements to promote CaaStle as a valuable, growing business when in reality it was struggling.

“Beginning in February 2019, I knowingly provided false statements about CaaStle’s finances to current and future investors,” Hunsicker told US District Judge J. Paul Oetken. She faces as long as 15 2/3 years in prison under ...