Smith-Griffin was arrested in North Carolina and charged with wire fraud, securities fraud, and aggravated identity theft, facing over 40 years in prison. The company is now in bankruptcy proceedings and all employees have been laid off. Smith-Griffin is the latest Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree to be indicted on fraud charges.
Key takeaways:
- Joanna Smith-Griffin, the founder of an AI education start-up AllHere Education, was arrested and charged with defrauding her investors, lying about the company's profits and falsely claiming large school districts as her customers.
- She allegedly misrepresented AllHere's revenue and customer base to fraudulently raise almost $10 million in funds, and spent a significant portion of this on personal expenses.
- Smith-Griffin was charged with wire fraud, securities fraud and aggravated identity theft, and faces more than 40 years in prison. AllHere is now in bankruptcy proceedings and all employees have been laid off.
- Smith-Griffin is the latest Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree to be indicted on fraud, joining the ranks of other notable figures such as FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, Alameda Research co-CEO Caroline Ellison, fintech Frank founder Charlie Javice, and 'Pharma bro' Martin Shkreli.