Santa Clara Man Charged in Fraudulent AI Startup Investment Scheme

Federal authorities in San Francisco charged a Santa Clara man with securities and wire fraud for allegedly bilking venture capital investors out of $17 million in bogus artificial intelligence funding. Shaukat Shamim, 49, wooed investors to his AI startup, Youplus, by allegedly lying about the number of clients who bought the software, said DOJ Monday. Prosecutors alleged Shamim showed investors a fake bank statement last summer showing the company had more than $600,000 in revenue from 35 clients, including Netflix, when it really had $65,000 from one client. Shamim is due next week at a hearing in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, said DOJ. Efforts to reach him or his attorneys Tuesday were unsuccessful.