Founder and former CEO of AI company pleads guilty to securities fraud
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Ilit Raz admitted to defrauding investors of $27 million by fabricating customer lists and forging bank statements for her startup, Joonko Diversity, Inc.
Ilit Raz, the founder and former CEO of Joonko Diversity, Inc., pleaded guilty to securities fraud on September 11, 2026. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Raz admitted to a scheme that defrauded investors of approximately $27 million by misrepresenting the company's revenue and customer base. The case, overseen by U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, centers on a startup that claimed to use artificial intelligence to help employers hire diverse candidates. Raz used false claims to secure funding in 2021 and 2022. She's a 40-year-old Israeli citizen. She now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. ## Fabricated Customers and Revenue The fraud wasn't subtle. Raz lied about who was actually using Joonko's software. She told investors that some of the largest companies in the world were customers, including a credit card company, a sports apparel brand, an online travel company, and a luxury fashion brand. None of it was true. These companies never had a business relationship with Joonko. Beyond the fake client list, Raz manipulated financial figures. She provided false representations of both actual and anticipated revenues to lure venture capital firms into two major funding rounds. The first, a Series A in June 2021, brought in $10 million. The second, a Series B in June 2022, brought in another $17 million. ## Forged Bank Statements The scheme started to collapse in 2023. One specific investor, referred to in filings as Investor-1, got suspicious about how the company was actually performing. They asked for bank statements. Raz didn't come clean. Instead, on April 3, 2023, she emailed the investor a forged bank statement. The document showed an average balance of over $5,000,000. The real bank records told a different story. The actual balance was millions of dollars lower than what Raz claimed. Five days later, she doubled down. She sent the investor a set of fictitious purchase orders. These documents included forged signatures and were tied to companies that had no relationship with Joonko. ## Bankruptcy and Losses The fallout has been absolute. Joonko is now bankrupt. The $27 million invested by venture capital firms and other parties has resulted in millions of dollars in losses. U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald noted that Raz's actions make it harder for legitimate startups to raise capital. The FBI's Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force handled the investigation, with additional assistance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Raz's guilty plea to securities fraud marks the end of the company's run. While the maximum sentence is 20 years, the final sentencing will be determined by Judge Hellerstein. The case remains a stark record of how easily "AI" branding was used to mask fundamental financial deception.