Last year, Gokce G眉ven鈥檚 face graced the front cover of Forbes after being included in the 30 Under 30 cohort for 2025.
The founder and CEO of Kalder, a New York-based technology startup focused on business loyalty and rewards programs, was included in the advertising and marketing category.
鈥淪o excited to share – I’m on the COVER of Forbes 30 Under 30,鈥� she gushed. 聽鈥淭his is just the beginning.鈥�
Fast forward 12 months and G眉ven is back on the front page 鈥� but this time the news is less celebratory.
That鈥檚 because the young entrepreneur has been charged by US authorities with securities fraud, wire fraud, visa fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
The charges arise from an alleged scheme by the defendant to defraud investors in her technology startup Kalder out of $7m by misrepresenting Kalder鈥檚 financial performance.
Crypto King鈥� Sam Bankman-Fried 鈥� also known as SBF – made the Class of 2021.
The US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York also accused G眉ven, who is a citizen of Turkey, of forging documents to obtain an O-1A visa, reserved for individuals of 鈥榚xtraordinary ability鈥�, that would allow her to live and work in the US.
If found guilty, G眉ven could be jailed for up to 52 years.
The news spread like wildfire on social media, with many commentators referring to the 鈥榗urse鈥� of Forbes 30 Under 30.
At this point it should be made clear that G眉ven hasn鈥檛 been convicted of any crimes 鈥� although several of the names included in previous Forbes鈥� lists have been.
Forbes estimate ‘99.9 per cent’ of the 10,000+ names included on their lists haven’t done anything wrong.
However, in 2023 Forbes, published a story headlined 鈥楬all of Shame: The 10 Most Dubious People Ever To Make Our 30 Under 30 List鈥�.
They included:
- 1. 鈥楥rypto King鈥� Sam Bankman-Fried 鈥� also known as SBF – who made the Class of 2021. A year later his Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange FTX was valued at $40bn. However, in 2024, he was jailed for 25 years in prison and ordered to pay $11bn in forfeiture for his orchestration of multiple fraudulent schemes.
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Charlie Javice was the founder of Frank and made the Class of 2019
2. Charlie Javice was the founder of Frank and made the Class of 2019. She raised $16m for Frank, her startup that promised to help college students get financial aid. In 2021, she sold the start-up – which she said at the time had 4.25 million users – to JPMorgan Chase for $175m. In 2025 Javice was sentenced to 85 months in prison for falsely and dramatically inflating the number of customers of her company, Frank, to fraudulently induce JPMorgan Chase to buy it.
- 3. Martin Shkreli was the founder of MSMB Capital when he made the Class of 2013. Once hailed as a business 鈥榳underkind鈥�, he launched two pharma-focused hedge funds while in his 20s. Two years after appearing on the Under 30, the 鈥榩harma bro鈥� was described as the 鈥榤ost hated man in America鈥� for hiking up the price of vital medications. In 2018 he was sentenced to seven years鈥� imprisonment for committing securities fraud and securities fraud conspiracy.
One person hoping not to join that list is G眉ven.
According to documents filed by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, in April 2024, G眉ven began raising Kalder鈥檚 鈥榮eed round鈥�, soliciting investments from dozens of venture capitalists.
She鈥檚 accused of providing prospective investors with false statements, misleading claims, and fabricated documents regarding Kalder鈥檚 revenue and brand partners.
It鈥檚 alleged G眉ven transmitted to potential investors a pitch deck that misrepresented, among other things, that Kalder had 26 brands 鈥榰sing Kalder鈥� and 53 brands in 鈥榣ive freemium鈥� (that is, using basic Kalder services free of charge).
Prosecutors also claim Kalder鈥檚 pitch deck falsely reported that Kalder鈥檚 recurring revenue had steadily grown month over month since February 2023 and that by March 2024, Kalder had reached $1.2m in annual recurring revenue.
Two sets of books
According to documents, the founder concealed the true financial condition of the company from multiple investors by maintaining two sets of books.
As a result, it鈥檚 alleged G眉ven raised approximately $7m from more than a dozen investors.
US Attorney Jay Clayton said: 鈥淎s alleged, G枚k莽e G眉ven 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. Beware of fraud masquerading as entrepreneurship.鈥�
FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr added: 鈥淕枚k莽e G眉ven allegedly exaggerated her company鈥檚 fiscal condition and partnerships to swindle more than $7m from prospective investors before using these misrepresentations to unlawfully obtain a highly acclaimed visa to the US.
鈥淕眉ven allegedly curated a fa莽ade of her business ingenuity to unlawfully reap financial and personal benefits.鈥�
USPIS Inspector in Charge Ketty Larco-Ward said: 鈥淚nvestors placed their trust in this emerging FinTech founder and CEO, only to be misled and scammed, as alleged.鈥�
The case is being handled by the Office鈥檚 Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force.