A financial technology company founder has been added to the list of disgraced innovators who’ve soiled the Forbes 30 under 30 list with their alleged crimes.
Gokce Guven, the founder and CEO of Klader Inc., was indicted on Thursday for allegedly defrauding dozens of investors out of $7 million through false partnership claims and fictitious financial documents, prosecutors in New York announced.
The 26-year-old Turkish citizen, who is the brains behind the platform that helps users turn their loyalty rewards from brands into revenue, also allegedly used similar methods to obtain an O-1A US visa, prosecutors added.
The temporary visa is specifically reserved for people of ‘extraordinary ability’ in the sciences, art, education, and more. She was issued one in the fall of 2025.
Guven’s star-studded clients for her startup included chocolatier Godiva and the International Air Transport Association – and in 2025 her company was valued at $35 million, making $1.5 million in revenue.
She posed for the coveted Forbes list wearing an $150,000 Audemars Piguet diamond bezel Royal Oak watch, and a diamond tennis bracelet on her wrist last year.
The UC Berkley alumna was previously arrested on November 27, 2025, according to the indictment.
The 2025 Forbes 30 under 30 recipient, who promoted Klader Inc. as a ‘fintech-marketing platform’, started raising her company’s first investments from venture capitalists in April 2024.
Gokce Guven, the 26-year-old founder and CEO of Klader Inc., was indicted on Thursday for allegedly defrauding dozens of investors out of approximately $7 million
She has also been accused of using similar tactics to obtain an O-1A US visa. She is a Turkish citizen who was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2025. The alleged fraudster is pictured here on the coveted Forbes list wearing an $150,000 Audemars Piguet diamond bezel Royal Oak watch, and a diamond tennis bracelet on her wrist
During that time, the young entrepreneur provided ‘prospective investors with false statements, misleading claims, and fabricated documents regarding Kalder’s revenue and brand partners,’ per the indictment.
Though she has not been found guilty, Guven’s charges ring similar to those of convicted fraudsters FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, and Charlie Javice, the founder of Frank.
They all made the prestigious list as well.
Alleged phony Guven sat down for an interview with Forbes last year, where she spoke about her challenges with being an immigrant entrepreneur in America.
She said: ‘As an immigrant you see a future you can build no matter who you are, or where you’re from.
‘The US is the center of the world for startups and making your dreams come true.
‘I was in Berkeley. Of course I was privileged to have the background degrees and the network.’
She spoke about how she watched her fellow college students drop out of college to build their own companies – admitting that she was jealous and wanted to be ‘one of them’ because she ‘has great ideas.’
According to the indictment, Guven ‘concealed the true financial condition of the company from multiple investors by maintaining two sets of books.’
One of the books contained the company’s accurate annual and monthly financial information that was written up by Kalder’s outside accounting firm, while the other was full of ‘false and inflated numbers that was transmitted to investors and prospective investors,’ the indictment stated.
In an interview with Forbes, she spoke about how she watched her fellow college students drop out of college to build their own companies – admitting that she was jealous and wanted to be ‘one of them’ because she ‘has great ideas’
From that, she raked in about $7 million from more than a dozen investors, the charging document added.
As for obtaining her US visa, Guven allegedly used similar tactics to do so and provided ‘letters of support and reference’ that were purportedly signed by business executives.
In reality, Guven signed those documents herself without the executives’ consent or knowledge, the indictment read.
Guven has been charged with securities fraud, wire fraud, visa fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
Securities and wire fraud each carry a maximum of 20 years in prison, while visa fraud carries a maximum of 10 years behind bars.
Meanwhile, aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years in prison.
US Attorney Jay Clayton, who’s been assigned to Guven’s case, said his office will stop at nothing to end alleged fraudsters like Guven.
Guven joins fellow 30 under 30 recipients Sam Bankman-Fried, Elizabeth Holmes (pictured), and Charlie Javice. She has not been found guilty of fraud, but the other three have and have been sentenced to jail time for their crimes
‘As alleged, Gökçe Güven built her seed round on fake revenue, inflated brand partnerships, and fabricated documents, and then used the same lies to secure a visa reserved for extraordinary ability,’ Clayton said.
He added: ‘Beware of fraud masquerading as entrepreneurship. This Office, alongside our law enforcement partners, will continue to vigorously pursue market participants who use fraud and deception to victimize investors.’
The Daily Mail contacted Guven for comment.
Bankman-Fried was included in the 2021 edition of the prestigious list. About three years later, he was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme.
Holmes made the list in 2015. She was sentenced to more than 11 years behind bars in 2022 for defrauding investors in her company.
Javice, who was listed in 2019, was sentenced to more than seven years in prison in September for tricking 300 of America’s top bankers into handing over $175 million to her.
