United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced today that CHRISTINE HUNSICKER, the founder and former Chief Executive Officer of CaaStle Inc. (“CaaStle”), pled guilty to one count of securities fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud hundreds of investors in CaaStle, a retail-technology business. As part of her plea, HUNSICKER agreed to forfeit nearly $300 million in proceeds from her illegal scheme, as well as from a scheme to defraud investors in P180, a related business venture. HUNSICKER pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken.
“Christine Hunsicker fashioned a massive fraud scheme, built on forged documents, fabricated audits, and material misrepresentations to hundreds of venture capital investors,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Today’s guilty plea sends a clear message: individuals who exploit investor trust for personal gain will be held accountable. Fraud in the venture capital ecosystem not only harms investors financially, but also undermines innovation and confidence in emerging businesses. We will continue to pursue those who deceive investors and distort our private markets.”
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment and statements made in public filings and in public court proceedings:
HUNSICKER, a well-known entrepreneur and successful businessperson in the fashion-tech industry, founded and was the CEO of CaaStle, a clothing technology business. While promoting CaaStle as a rapidly growing business valued at more than $1.4 billion, HUNSICKER knew that CaaStle was in financial distress with limited cash and significant expenses. To raise the capital for CaaStle’s operations, HUNSICKER provided investors with falsified income statements, fake audited financial statements, fictitious bank records, and sham corporate documents that grossly overstated CaaStle’s operating profit, revenue, and available cash. She also misrepresented to investors that their funds would be used to purchase discounted shares from existing shareholders who needed liquidity, when in fact she fabricated the existence of those shareholders and used the money as new capital for CaaStle while concealing the company’s cash needs.
When confronted by an audit firm in October 2023 about transmitting a fake audit to an investor, HUNSICKER lied, falsely claiming that she had created the fake audit in connection with a lecture she gave at Princeton University, and that sending the audit to the investor had been a one-time error. In reality, HUNSICKER had provided two fake audits to the investor while soliciting an investment. She later repaid that investor to prevent the public disclosure of her fraud. Undeterred, she continued the scheme, providing an investor with fake bank account screenshots showing nearly $200 million in available cash when CaaStle had less than $200,000. One month later, in October 2024, HUNSICKER provided a different investor with a fake draft audit. In 2024, HUNSICKER also falsified the signatures of two Board directors to make it appear that the Board had authorized the grant of stock options to another investor, raising more than $20 million for CaaStle.
In 2024, HUNSICKER extended her fraudulent activities to P180, a new business venture. HUNSICKER intended for P180 to acquire clothing brands. P180 would then pay for and leverage the CaaStle service, which would infuse CaaStle with desperately needed cash. HUNSICKER raised millions of dollars for P180 from existing CaaStle investors. In soliciting these investments, HUNSICKER repeated misrepresentations about CaaStle’s financial performance, and failed to disclose that her prior representations regarding CaaStle had been false.
In December 2024, the CaaStle Board removed HUNSICKER as Chair and prohibited her from soliciting investments. HUNSICKER, however, continued her fraudulent activities and raised and attempted to raise new capital for CaaStle and P180. In February 2025, HUNSICKER attempted to sell an additional $19 million of her CaaStle shares to another investor. HUNSICKER persisted in her deceptive practices even after law enforcement agents seized her electronic devices in March 2025, continuing to meet with the investor about a fake audit without revealing its fraudulent nature, her removal from the Board, or the prohibition against her selling shares. CaaStle filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on June 20, 2025.
If you believe you have been a victim of the schemes described above, and you wish to provide information to law enforcement in connection to sentencing or to receive additional information, please contact Valeen Defendre, the Victim Witness Coordinator at the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York, at 866-874-8900 or valeen.defendre@usdoj.gov.
HUNSICKER, 48, of Lafayette, New Jersey, pled guilty to one count of securities fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The maximum potential sentence is prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge. HUNSICKER is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Oetken on August 5, 2026.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the FBI. Mr. Clayton also thanked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which has filed a separate civil action, for its assistance and cooperation in the investigation.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force.
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