调查显示，这家昔日独角兽企业、热门社交媒体初创公司IRL（全称“in real life”，意为“现实生活”）前首席执行官涉嫌误导投资者，随后通过将手机恢复至先前备份（这一操作会导致相关记录被删除）的方式销毁文件。当局现以欺诈及妨碍司法公正罪对其提起公讼。
据美国司法部（Department of Justice）披露，现年38岁的亚伯拉罕·沙菲目前定居夏威夷，曾向风险投资者谎称，其基于活动的社交媒体应用IRL的用户增长属于“有机增长”——即通过用户邀请好友下载实现。法庭记录显示，沙菲声称公司每月仅投入5万美元用于营销和公关以获取新用户。但监管机构指出，实际情况是IRL每月投入约20万美元广告费以虚增用户数量，并对潜在投资者隐瞒这一数据。2021年，IRL在软银愿景基金二期（SoftBank Vision Fund 2）领投的C轮融资中筹集1.7亿美元，由此稳固了其“独角兽”地位，估值达11.7亿美元，并跻身苹果应用商店下载量前十的社交媒体应用之列。如今沙菲面临妨碍司法公正、证券欺诈及电信欺诈等多项重罪指控，美国证券交易委员会（SEC）也对其提起民事诉讼。
当局称，在C轮融资期间，投资者曾专门就平台“用户获取渠道”一事向沙菲提问。沙菲声称IRL与其他社交媒体应用不同。
起诉书援引沙菲发给投资者的邮件内容，其中写道：“这一有机渠道是免费的（用户邀请好友不会获得激励或报酬，且必须逐个邀请，无法批量操作）。与其他不惜重金获取新用户的应用不同，我们在这方面的支出微乎其微。”
与此同时，起诉书指出，沙菲涉嫌将广告支出票据开具给第三方公司，以隐瞒IRL的广告支出。
美国司法部在一份声明中表示：“沙菲斥资数百万美元，以激励广告的形式开展付费推广活动——此类广告模式下，用户若下载IRL，可在第三方应用中获取奖励。在C轮融资筹备阶段，沙菲曾要求合作服务商在‘数日内’投放‘大量广告’，以推动IRL应用安装量增长。”
软银（SoftBank）随后向沙菲追索1.5亿美元，而IRL创始人团队则反诉其前风险投资者及董事会成员。在法律文件中，沙菲此前已否认自身存在任何不当行为。
特拉华州衡平法院副法官洛里·W·威尔（Lori W. Will）撰写的备忘录意见书概述了风险投资者与IRL创始人团队的对立观点：威尔指出，沙菲及其他创始人声称，在美国证券交易委员会就IRL用户问题展开调查并传讯投资者后，这些投资者陷入“恐慌”，“担忧声誉受损会对其在硅谷的投资前景造成负面影响”。创始人团队声称，为自保，风险投资者委托外部机构出具报告，称该平台用户大多是机器人。而威尔在意见书中指出，风险投资者则反驳称整个平台实为“骗局，因其用户几乎全是机器人”。由风险投资者指定的董事会成员认为，沙菲因涉嫌不当行为被“合理停职”，而关闭公司是“对所有投资者负责的唯一选择”。
沙菲的律师未回应置评请求。软银发言人拒绝置评。沙菲及其他创始人否认了“用户为机器人”的指控。
美国司法部与美国证券交易委员会指控沙菲早在2019年就通过“激励广告”虚增IRL应用下载量和用户基数。起诉书称，沙菲通过第三方公司支付广告费用，以避免这笔支出出现在IRL的账目上，并将其计入IRL总分类账的“咨询费”项下，以隐瞒这些付款。到2020年，沙菲将每日广告支出从3000美元增至5000美元，据称目标是实现iOS设备日均1.2万次应用安装、安卓设备日均6500次安装。据称，在2020年至2021年期间，沙菲每月在广告上的支出已达数十万美元，且仍通过第三方公司支付。
总而言之，美国证券交易委员会称，2019年至2021年间，沙菲在广告方面累计支出570万美元。然而当局称，沙菲在融资演讲稿中向投资者吹嘘IRL的用户增长源于朋友间相互推荐。当潜在投资者询问用户量激增原因时，沙菲将其归结为“节假日期间的季节性因素”。据称，沙菲在与投资者的谈话要点中列出了四家营销供应商，但并未提及IRL实际付费的广告公司。
C轮融资结束后，沙菲出售了价值750万美元的个人股票期权，而软银等机构则投入1.7亿美元。此后，IRL聘请的首席财务官据称就IRL向第三方公司支付广告费用一事询问沙菲。起诉书称，沙菲随即改变策略，指示公司相关人员开具“虚假发票”，试图让广告支出看起来像是用于支付亚马逊云科技（Amazon Web Services）、短信服务（SMS）和谷歌云服务的费用。
与此同时，美国证券交易委员会和美国司法部称，沙菲在C轮融资前后利用IRL的资金支付个人开销。起诉书称，沙菲使用IRL的企业信用卡为婚礼宾客支付夏威夷“豪华酒店住宿”费用，为“艺术课程”、“空气净化服务”支付数千美元，为日本旅行支付数万美元，并在高端奢侈品服装店和家具店消费数十万美元。美国证券交易委员会起诉书称，沙菲虽向IRL偿还了约250万美元（用于他和妻子的个人开销），但仍有其他费用未予偿还，其中包括“心灵与替代疗法”服务及夏威夷多家“豪华度假酒店”费用。沙菲在法律文件中声称，他从未隐瞒使用同一张信用卡支付企业和个人费用的做法，且这种做法可追溯至他创立公司并自行出资时期。
2022年，美国证券交易委员会就用户指标和供应商付款问题传唤了沙菲和IRL的其他人员。起诉书称，IRL随后启动内部调查。
当局称，彼时沙菲试图掩盖自身与广告支出的关联，据称指使伪造发票者宣称所有行为皆为其个人所为，与沙菲无关。据称，沙菲还将手机恢复至“先前备份”，这一操作导致当前数据和内容被删除。两天后，作为内部调查的一部分，IRL对沙菲的手机进行了完整镜像备份。后来，美国证券交易委员会称，沙菲在宣誓作证时“谎称”在收到美国证券交易委员会传票后并未擦除手机数据。
威尔在对IRL最后数月情况的总结中提到，美国证券交易委员会发起的调查在这家初创公司内部引发了大量讨论与多轮交涉。该公司聘请了外部法律顾问、多家律师事务所和调查机构来应对美国证券交易委员会的传票。一家外部机构报告称，该平台充斥着机器人用户，真实用户寥寥无几，而另一家机构则发现机器人活动很少。2023年4月，在美国证券交易委员会对两名由风险投资者任命的董事会成员进行传讯后，据称董事会专门委员会要求沙菲辞职，否则将因其使用IRL信用卡支付个人开支一事对其予以停职处理。据称沙菲拒绝辞职，随后董事会将其停职。
法庭记录显示，沙菲被停职后，IRL的用户数量急剧下滑。到6月，董事会投票决定解散公司，并向投资者分发4000万美元现金。相关诉讼仍在进行中。（*）
译者：中慧言-王芳
调查显示，这家昔日独角兽企业、热门社交媒体初创公司IRL（全称“in real life”，意为“现实生活”）前首席执行官涉嫌误导投资者，随后通过将手机恢复至先前备份（这一操作会导致相关记录被删除）的方式销毁文件。当局现以欺诈及妨碍司法公正罪对其提起公讼。
据美国司法部（Department of Justice）披露，现年38岁的亚伯拉罕·沙菲目前定居夏威夷，曾向风险投资者谎称，其基于活动的社交媒体应用IRL的用户增长属于“有机增长”——即通过用户邀请好友下载实现。法庭记录显示，沙菲声称公司每月仅投入5万美元用于营销和公关以获取新用户。但监管机构指出，实际情况是IRL每月投入约20万美元广告费以虚增用户数量，并对潜在投资者隐瞒这一数据。2021年，IRL在软银愿景基金二期（SoftBank Vision Fund 2）领投的C轮融资中筹集1.7亿美元，由此稳固了其“独角兽”地位，估值达11.7亿美元，并跻身苹果应用商店下载量前十的社交媒体应用之列。如今沙菲面临妨碍司法公正、证券欺诈及电信欺诈等多项重罪指控，美国证券交易委员会（SEC）也对其提起民事诉讼。
当局称，在C轮融资期间，投资者曾专门就平台“用户获取渠道”一事向沙菲提问。沙菲声称IRL与其他社交媒体应用不同。
起诉书援引沙菲发给投资者的邮件内容，其中写道：“这一有机渠道是免费的（用户邀请好友不会获得激励或报酬，且必须逐个邀请，无法批量操作）。与其他不惜重金获取新用户的应用不同，我们在这方面的支出微乎其微。”
与此同时，起诉书指出，沙菲涉嫌将广告支出票据开具给第三方公司，以隐瞒IRL的广告支出。
美国司法部在一份声明中表示：“沙菲斥资数百万美元，以激励广告的形式开展付费推广活动——此类广告模式下，用户若下载IRL，可在第三方应用中获取奖励。在C轮融资筹备阶段，沙菲曾要求合作服务商在‘数日内’投放‘大量广告’，以推动IRL应用安装量增长。”
软银（SoftBank）随后向沙菲追索1.5亿美元，而IRL创始人团队则反诉其前风险投资者及董事会成员。在法律文件中，沙菲此前已否认自身存在任何不当行为。
特拉华州衡平法院副法官洛里·W·威尔（Lori W. Will）撰写的备忘录意见书概述了风险投资者与IRL创始人团队的对立观点：威尔指出，沙菲及其他创始人声称，在美国证券交易委员会就IRL用户问题展开调查并传讯投资者后，这些投资者陷入“恐慌”，“担忧声誉受损会对其在硅谷的投资前景造成负面影响”。创始人团队声称，为自保，风险投资者委托外部机构出具报告，称该平台用户大多是机器人。而威尔在意见书中指出，风险投资者则反驳称整个平台实为“骗局，因其用户几乎全是机器人”。由风险投资者指定的董事会成员认为，沙菲因涉嫌不当行为被“合理停职”，而关闭公司是“对所有投资者负责的唯一选择”。
沙菲的律师未回应置评请求。软银发言人拒绝置评。沙菲及其他创始人否认了“用户为机器人”的指控。
美国司法部与美国证券交易委员会指控沙菲早在2019年就通过“激励广告”虚增IRL应用下载量和用户基数。起诉书称，沙菲通过第三方公司支付广告费用，以避免这笔支出出现在IRL的账目上，并将其计入IRL总分类账的“咨询费”项下，以隐瞒这些付款。到2020年，沙菲将每日广告支出从3000美元增至5000美元，据称目标是实现iOS设备日均1.2万次应用安装、安卓设备日均6500次安装。据称，在2020年至2021年期间，沙菲每月在广告上的支出已达数十万美元，且仍通过第三方公司支付。
总而言之，美国证券交易委员会称，2019年至2021年间，沙菲在广告方面累计支出570万美元。然而当局称，沙菲在融资演讲稿中向投资者吹嘘IRL的用户增长源于朋友间相互推荐。当潜在投资者询问用户量激增原因时，沙菲将其归结为“节假日期间的季节性因素”。据称，沙菲在与投资者的谈话要点中列出了四家营销供应商，但并未提及IRL实际付费的广告公司。
C轮融资结束后，沙菲出售了价值750万美元的个人股票期权，而软银等机构则投入1.7亿美元。此后，IRL聘请的首席财务官据称就IRL向第三方公司支付广告费用一事询问沙菲。起诉书称，沙菲随即改变策略，指示公司相关人员开具“虚假发票”，试图让广告支出看起来像是用于支付亚马逊云科技（Amazon Web Services）、短信服务（SMS）和谷歌云服务的费用。
与此同时，美国证券交易委员会和美国司法部称，沙菲在C轮融资前后利用IRL的资金支付个人开销。起诉书称，沙菲使用IRL的企业信用卡为婚礼宾客支付夏威夷“豪华酒店住宿”费用，为“艺术课程”、“空气净化服务”支付数千美元，为日本旅行支付数万美元，并在高端奢侈品服装店和家具店消费数十万美元。美国证券交易委员会起诉书称，沙菲虽向IRL偿还了约250万美元（用于他和妻子的个人开销），但仍有其他费用未予偿还，其中包括“心灵与替代疗法”服务及夏威夷多家“豪华度假酒店”费用。沙菲在法律文件中声称，他从未隐瞒使用同一张信用卡支付企业和个人费用的做法，且这种做法可追溯至他创立公司并自行出资时期。
2022年，美国证券交易委员会就用户指标和供应商付款问题传唤了沙菲和IRL的其他人员。起诉书称，IRL随后启动内部调查。
当局称，彼时沙菲试图掩盖自身与广告支出的关联，据称指使伪造发票者宣称所有行为皆为其个人所为，与沙菲无关。据称，沙菲还将手机恢复至“先前备份”，这一操作导致当前数据和内容被删除。两天后，作为内部调查的一部分，IRL对沙菲的手机进行了完整镜像备份。后来，美国证券交易委员会称，沙菲在宣誓作证时“谎称”在收到美国证券交易委员会传票后并未擦除手机数据。
威尔在对IRL最后数月情况的总结中提到，美国证券交易委员会发起的调查在这家初创公司内部引发了大量讨论与多轮交涉。该公司聘请了外部法律顾问、多家律师事务所和调查机构来应对美国证券交易委员会的传票。一家外部机构报告称，该平台充斥着机器人用户，真实用户寥寥无几，而另一家机构则发现机器人活动很少。2023年4月，在美国证券交易委员会对两名由风险投资者任命的董事会成员进行传讯后，据称董事会专门委员会要求沙菲辞职，否则将因其使用IRL信用卡支付个人开支一事对其予以停职处理。据称沙菲拒绝辞职，随后董事会将其停职。
法庭记录显示，沙菲被停职后，IRL的用户数量急剧下滑。到6月，董事会投票决定解散公司，并向投资者分发4000万美元现金。相关诉讼仍在进行中。（*）
译者：中慧言-王芳
Authorities charged the ex-CEO of a former unicorn, buzzy social media startup IRL (which stands for “in real life”) with fraud and obstruction after an investigation showed the executive allegedly misled investors and then trashed files by restoring his cell phone to a previously saved backup that deleted relevant records.
According to the Department of Justice, Abraham Shafi, 38, who lives in Hawaii, allegedly told venture capital investors the growth of his event-based social media app, IRL, was “organic” from people inviting their friends to download it. Shafi claimed the company only spent $50,000 a month on marketing and PR to acquire new users, court records show. In reality, IRL spent about $200,000 per month on advertisements to help inflate the number of users and hid that data from potential investors, authorities claim. In 2021, IRL raised $170 million in a Series C funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, solidifying its coveted status as a unicorn with a $1.17 billion valuation and landing it among the top 10 most downloaded social media apps on Apple. Now, Shafi faces obstruction of justice, securities fraud, and wire fraud felony charges, along with civil charges from the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Authorities allege investors specifically asked Shafi during the Series C process about “user acquisition channels” on the platform. Shafi claimed that IRL was different from other social media apps.
“This is a free organic channel (users are not incentivize or paid for these invites, and must invite each friend individually with no bulk invites),” an email written by Shafi to an investor excerpted in the indictment states. “Unlike other apps that spend aggressively to acquire new users, we spend very little.”
Meanwhile, Shafi allegedly concealed IRL’s ad spending by invoicing the expenses to a third party firm, the indictment states.
“Shafi had spent millions of dollars on paid advertising in the form of incentive advertising, a type of advertising in which users are provided a reward in a third-party app if they download IRL,” the DOJ stated in an announcement. “In the lead up to Series C, Shafi asked his vendor for a ‘big burst’ of ads for ‘a few days’ to drive more installs of the IRL app.”
SoftBank has since sued Shafi for $150 million and the IRL founders, in turn, have sued their former venture capital investors and board members. In legal filings, Shafi has previously denied wrongdoing.
A Delaware Chancery Court memorandum opinion written by Vice Chancellor Lori W. Will summarized the opposing views of the VCs and the IRL founders: According to Will, Shafi and the other founders claim the VCs “panicked” after the SEC began deposing them as part of an investigation into IRL’s users and “feared reputational damage in Silicon Valley that would impair future investment prospects.” To protect themselves, the founders alleged, the VCs commissioned an outside firm that reported the platform’s users were mostly made up of bots. According to Will’s opinion, the VCs have countered that the entire platform was a “hoax because its users were almost entirely bots.” The VC-designated board members believe that Shafi was “appropriately suspended” for alleged misconduct and that shutting down the company was the only “responsible path for all investors.”
Lawyers for Shafi did not respond to a request for comment. A SoftBank spokesperson declined to comment. Shafi and the other founders have denied the bot allegations.
Authorities from DOJ and the SEC allege Shafi first began using “incentive advertising” to juice IRL’s downloads and user base back in 2019. Shafi paid the ad company through a third-party firm so that the expenses wouldn’t appear on IRL’s books, according to an indictment. Shafi hid the payments by including them on IRL’s general ledger as “consulting” fees, it states. By 2020, Shafi had increased his ad spending from $3,000 a day to $5,000 a day with an alleged goal of driving about 12,000 daily app installations on iOS devices and 6,500 on Androids. That year and into 2021, Shafi allegedly began spending hundreds of thousands a month on the ads, still paying through the third party.
All told, the SEC claims Shafi spent $5.7 million on ads between 2019 and 2021. However, in his pitch deck to investors, authorities allege Shafi touted that IRL’s growth stemmed from friends inviting other friends. When a prospective investor asked about a spike in users, Shafi claimed it was because of “seasonality around the holidays.” In his talking points with investors, Shafi allegedly listed four marketing vendors, but left out the ad company IRL was paying.
The Series C funding round closed and Shafi sold $7.5 million in his own stock options while SoftBank and others invested $170 million. Afterward, IRL hired a chief financial officer who allegedly asked Shafi about IRL’s payments to the third-party firm paying the ad company. In response, the indictment claims Shafi switched gears, allegedly directing someone affiliated with the company to create “false invoices” to make it look like the money spent on the ads was paying for Amazon Web Services, short message service (SMS), and Google Cloud costs.
Meanwhile, the SEC and the DOJ claim Shafi was using IRL to fund his personal expenses, before and after the Series C. The indictment states Shafi used IRL business credit cards to pay for “luxury hotel stays” in Hawaii for his wedding guests, thousands of dollars for “art classes,” “air purification services,” tens of thousands on a trip to Japan, and hundreds of thousands at high-end luxury clothing and furniture stores. The SEC complaint states Shafi reimbursed IRL about $2.5 million for he and his wife’s personal expenses but didn’t repay others that included “spiritual and alternative medicine” services and various “luxury resort” hotels in Hawaii. Shafi has claimed in legal filings he never hid the practice of using the same credit card for business and personal expenses, and that it dated back to when he founded the company and personally funded it.
In 2022, the SEC subpoenaed Shafi and others at IRL about user metrics and vendor payments. In response, IRL launched its own internal investigation, the indictment states.
At that point, authorities claim Shafi tried to mask his involvement with the ad spending by allegedly asking the person who created the fake invoices to say he was behind it all and Shafi had no involvement. Shafi also allegedly restored his phone to a “previously saved backup,” which deleted current data and content. Two days later, IRL imaged Shafi’s entire phone as part of its internal investigation. Later, the SEC claims Shafi “falsely denied” in sworn testimony that he wiped his phone after getting the SEC subpoena.
Will’s summary of the final months at IRL note the SEC investigation prompted lots of back and forth at the startup. The company hired outside counsel and multiple law firms and investigators to respond to the agency’s subpoenas. One outside firm reported the platform was overrun with bots and had few human users, while another found scant bot activity. In April 2023, after the SEC deposed two of the VC-appointed board members, a special board committee allegedly told Shafi to resign or he would be suspended over his use of the IRL credit cards to pay for his personal expenses. Shafi allegedly refused and the board suspended him.
After Shafi’s suspension, IRL user numbers tanked, court records show. By June, the board voted to dissolve the company and distributed $40 million in cash to investors. The lawsuits are ongoing.