In the meantime, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California announced criminal charges were being filed.
Shaukat Shamim, 49, of Santa Clara was ordered to appear in a San Francisco Federal court to answer charges that he made false statements about the technology and revenue of Youplus Inc. while pursuing investors. Shamim is also accused of using investor funds for luxury personal expenses.
Shamim used false bank statements
In 2019, Shamim was claiming that more than 800 iconic brands and agencies in the U.S., UK, and India were already working with the startup.
According to the SEC complaint, Shamim falsely told investors that YouPlus earned millions of dollars in annual revenue and had more than 100 customers, including Fortune 500 companies. He also used falsified bank statements to prove the claim.
In late 2019, Shamim confessed to some of his investors that YouPlus had in fact earned less than $500,000 and had only four paying customers from the time YouPlus opened its doors in 2013.
