Gökçe Güven, a 26-year-old Turkish national and the founder and CEO of fintech startup Kalder, was charged last week with alleged securities fraud, wire fraud, visa fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
The startup says it can help companies create and monetize individual rewards programs. The company was founded in 2022, and offers participating firms the opportunity to earn ongoing revenue streams via partner affiliate sales, according to Axios.
Güven was featured in the Forbes 30 under 30 list for 2025. The writeup about Güven named chocolatier Godiva and the International Air Transport Association as among Kalder’s clients, and stated that the company was inspired by moneymaking marketing programs like United Airlines’ MileagePlus, and that it embeds cash-back and rewards programs directly into its clients’ websites.
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The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that, during Kalder’s seed round in April of 2024, Güven managed to raise $7 million from more than a dozen investors after presenting a pitch deck filled with false information.
The pitch deck allegedly claimed that there were 26 brands “using Kalder” and another 53 brands in “live freemium.” However, officials say that, in reality, Kalder had, in many cases, only been offering heavily discounted pilot programs to many of those companies. Other brands “had no agreement with Kalder whatsoever—not even for free services,” officials said in a press release that announced the indictment.
The pitch deck also “falsely reported that Kalder’s recurring revenue had steadily grown month over month since February 2023 and that by March 2024, Kalder had reached $1.2 million in annual recurring revenue.”
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The government also claims that Güven kept two separate sets of financial books, one of which included “false and inflated numbers,” and was presented to investors or potential investors to hide the “true financial condition of the company.”
The DOJ states that Güven used lies about Kalder as well as forged documents to obtain a category of visa reserved for individuals of “extraordinary ability,” that would allow her to live and work in the United States.
Güven is far from the only Forbes 30 under 30 alum who ended up charged for fraud. Others include Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX cryptocurrency exchange, Charlie Javice, the founder of Frank, a financial aid application assistance company, Joanna Smith-Griffin, founder of the AI startup AllHere Education, and Martin Shkreli, a pharmaceutical co-founder.
