- Key insight: The indictment includes charges of visa fraud and aggravated identity theft related to forged letters used to obtain an O-1A visa.
- What's at stake: Kalder's operational future is in jeopardy after the government froze its assets, leaving it unable to pay vendors or legal counsel.
- Expert quote: "Güven built her seed round on fake revenue, inflated brand partnerships, and fabricated documents," said U.S. attorney Jay Clayton.
Overview bullets generated by AI with editorial review
Federal prosecutors charged the founder of rewards fintech Kalder with securities fraud Thursday, alleging she kept two sets of books to trick investors into handing over millions.
Prosecutors unsealed a superseding indictment against Gökçe Güven, accusing her of fabricating revenue figures and forging contracts to raise $7 million for her New York-based startup. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York is prosecuting the case.
The charges highlight the persistent risks investors face when vetting early-stage fintech partners, especially with respect to the verification of annual recurring revenue.
How Kalder works
Kalder offered what is known as card-linked offers. It advertised itself as a way for small, non-financial companies — such as retailers or sports teams — to offer cashback rewards to customers' existing credit cards. Here's how it works:
Suppose a Swiss soccer team has lots of loyal fans such as Joe and Angela. Joe pays for things with his airline rewards credit card; Angela uses her debit card. They both go to every match day, passing by the local coffee shop on their way.
Kalder's pitch to the soccer team would be that the team could partner with the coffee shop on a rewards program, and Kalder would manage the program in exchange for a cut of coffee sales.
The program would attract Joe and Angela to buy a coffee from the shop they pass on their way to the match by offering them cashback on those purchases. They can link their credit cards to the soccer team's app, enabling cashback rewards when they use the cards at the coffee shop.
This prospect enables the soccer team to pitch the coffee shop on a rewards partnership. The soccer team gets a 5-10% commission on coffee sales to Joe and Angela; Kalder gets its own commission on those sales, as well; the coffee shop benefits from Joe and Angela becoming loyal customers because of the rewards program.
How Güven allegedly defrauded investors
One of the challenges with Kalder's model is the chicken-and-egg problem. A retailer won't join the rewards program unless the soccer team has 100,000 active fans. The fans won't join unless the rewards program has 100 retailers.
The other problem is scale. For anyone in the ecosystem to make any real money, there would need to be millions in transaction volume.
To overcome these problems, Güven allegedly lied by telling investors she had overcome these challenges.
"Güven built her seed round on fake revenue, inflated brand partnerships, and fabricated documents," U.S. attorney Jay Clayton said, according to a Thursday press release from the Department of Justice.
While Güven pitched investors with data showing $1.2 million in annual recurring revenue, the company actually generated only about $60,000 in total by April 2025, according to prosecutors.
To maintain the ruse, Güven allegedly maintained two sets of books: an internal set with accurate data prepared by accountants, and a second set with inflated numbers sent to prospective investors.
She also allegedly claimed to have 26 brands paying to use the service and 53 brands using a free version, though many of these companies had no agreement with Kalder at all, prosecutors alleged.
The company's operational future now appears bleak. The government has frozen substantially all of Kalder's assets, leaving it unable to pay its vendors or legal counsel, according to a Jan. 12 letter from the company's attorneys.
Beyond the financial crimes, prosecutors charged Güven with visa fraud and aggravated identity theft. The indictment alleges she forged letters of support from business executives to obtain an O-1A visa — a status granted to non-citizens demonstrating extraordinary ability in their field — after her student visa expired.
Before her legal troubles, Güven garnered significant acclaim by landing a spot on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for marketing and advertising in 2025. In an interview Kalder published to celebrate the award, Güven said the vetting process was "exhilarating and humbling."
"Forbes was thorough in their evaluation," Güven said in the interview.
