The Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Matthew Podolsky, and Christopher G. Raia, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI, announced an indictment against Albert Saniger, former CEO of Nate, Inc. Saniger has been charged with deceiving investors through false claims about the company's AI technology.
Podolsky stated, "As alleged, Albert Saniger misled investors by exploiting the promise and allure of AI technology to build a false narrative about innovation that never existed. This type of deception not only victimizes innocent investors, it diverts capital from legitimate startups, makes investors skeptical of real breakthroughs, and ultimately impedes the progress of AI development. This Office and our partners at the FBI will continue to pursue those who seek to harm investors by touting false innovation."
Founded in 2018 by Saniger, Nate was promoted as an app that simplified online shopping for users. The app claimed to use AI to complete purchases with a single tap. Saniger pitched this concept to investors, asserting that Nate's AI technology was capable of performing online transactions automatically. However, the indictment claims Nate's AI did not actually perform these tasks autonomously.
Instead, the company reportedly utilized human workers to manually process transactions, unbeknownst to the public and most employees. Despite earlier denials, Saniger allegedly directed the creation of "bots" to assist the manual processing team shortly before the holiday season in 2021.
Saniger raised over $40 million from investors based on these alleged misrepresentations.
Saniger, 35, from Barcelona, Spain, faces one count of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud, each carrying a maximum of 20 years in prison. The sentences mentioned are potential maximums provided for informational purposes, with actual sentencing determined by the judge.
Podolsky commended the work of the FBI Special Agents and noted the concurrent civil action filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The case is managed by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas W. Chiuchiolo, Alexandra Messiter, and Sarah Mortazavi are leading the prosecution.
It's important to note that the charges are merely accusations, and Saniger is presumed innocent until proven guilty.