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Kalder founder Gökçe Güven agrees to SEC judgment after criminal guilty plea
Gökçe Güven, the Turkish founder of New York fintech startup Kalder, has agreed to a judgment in a civil fraud case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, months after pleading guilty to securities fraud in a parallel criminal case.
Gökçe Güven, the Turkish founder of New York fintech startup Kalder, has agreed to a judgment in a civil fraud case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, months after she pleaded guilty to securities fraud in a parallel criminal case.
The SEC filed its complaint on Oct. 2 in federal court in Manhattan, accusing Kalder and Güven of defrauding investors in an offering that raised nearly $6.7 million between April and December 2024. According to the agency, Kalder inflated its revenue figures and overstated how many customers had revenue-generating contracts, when many of them were on free demo accounts or short-term discounted pilot programs.
The complaint alleges that the company "maintained two sets of books": an accurate one prepared by an outside bookkeeper using data from financial institutions, and a second set with inflated numbers that was created and shared with investors at Güven's direction.
Without admitting or denying the allegations, Güven consented to a judgment that would permanently prohibit her from future violations of the securities laws and bar her from serving as an officer or director of a public company for six years. The court will set disgorgement and civil penalties at a later stage, and the settlement remains subject to court approval.
From the Forbes list to federal court
Güven, who was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, was arrested on Nov. 27, 2025. In February, federal prosecutors in Manhattan filed a superseding indictment charging her with securities fraud, wire fraud, visa fraud and aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors said she used the same misrepresentations, along with support letters she forged in the names of Kalder executives, to obtain an O-1A "extraordinary ability" visa that was issued in the fall of 2025.
On May 15, Güven pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to one count of securities fraud, and the four other charges against her were dropped. She also agreed to forfeit nearly $7 million. "In our startup markets, ambition is not a substitute for honesty," U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said at the time.
The securities fraud count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Her sentencing had initially been set for Sept. 17, and no sentence has been publicly reported so far.
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