iLearningEngines Ex-CEO and Ex-CFO Charged with Fabricating 90% of $421M Revenue in AI Company Fraud (153pts HN)
Reuters·medium signal
Federal prosecutors indicted former CEO Puthugramam Chidambaran and ex-CFO Sayyed Farhan Ali Naqvi on 10 counts including securities fraud and continuing financial crimes. The indictment alleges at least 90% of iLearningEngines' reported $421M in 2023 revenue was fabricated using forged contracts and round-trip money transfers. The AI business automation company went public via SPAC in April 2024 at $1.4B valuation, peaked at $1.5B, then filed Chapter 7 liquidation by March 2025 after a short-seller exposed the numbers.