Former AI startup CEO faked revenue and faces decades in prison

Former San Francisco AI startup CEO Baba Nadimpalli is dealing with serious fraud charges after allegedly misleading investors about the company’s financial health. The unsealing of a federal indictment earlier this week reveals that Nadimpalli, an Australian citizen, was charged with three securities fraud counts and seven wire fraud.

From 2020 to 2022, Nadimpalli supposedly raised more than $40 million in financing spread over three rounds by misleading investors about Skael’s revenue and customer data. The U.S. Attorney’s Office noted that Nadimpalli reported that Skael earned millions in annual recurring revenue and had multiple prestigious clients. However, the revenue was considerably less, and some claimed clients did not exist.

In February 2022, during the Series A preferred stock offering that valued Skael at about $230 million, Nadimpalli supposedly built an electronic data room packed with falsified documentation to draw in potential investors. These papers featured misleading information concerning the company’s financial condition, customer payments, and profit and loss statements.

In its lawsuit against Nadimpalli, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused him of breaking federal securities laws by lying to investors and using money for mortgage payments and home improvements.

If found guilty of securities fraud, Nadimpalli’s sentence is a maximum of 20 years in prison and $5 million in fines, with an extra 20 years and a $250,000 fine for wire fraud. The Northern District of California’s Corporate and Securities Fraud Section manages the case prosecution.