Federal authorities took a Dallas CEO into custody this week and charged him with swindling millions through wire fraud.

At 6:30 a.m. on February 13, approximately a dozen FBI agents raided the home of the former Slync CEO in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Westlake. Agents arrested the founder of the Goldman Sachs-backed logistics software company.

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton announced that the founder of Dallas-based Slync, Christopher Kirchner, 35, has been charged with $20 million in wire fraud. Kirchner could face up to two decades in a federal penitentiary if the allegations are true.

Following a $50 million Series B raise, it is alleged that Kirchner siphoned nearly 40% of the investment into his bank account. According to the United States Attorney’s Office, Kirchner allegedly told an employee via text message that he would transfer $20 million to “an investment account” and a “chase” account. However, after obtaining approval, the money was reportedly moved into his personal bank account.

Kirchner allegedly told private bankers that the massive dollar transfer was a “distribution,” but Slync’s Board of Directors never provided authorization.

Wire fraud is just one of many types of fraud raging in Dallas, whose police force has been besieged by growing crime rates since last year.

As The Dallas Express recently reported, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas announced earlier this month that 23 people from Texas — many from DFW — had been indicted for allegations of fraud related to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

The PPP is a relief fund that, together with Economic Injury Disaster Loans, was meant to help small businesses during the COVID-19 crisis. One watchdog estimates that nearly $5 billion in taxpayer money was dispensed to fraudsters through the two relief programs.

Much like other alleged white-collar criminals, Kirchner’s lifestyle was far from understated.

Within a few short years, Kirchner went from working customer service at Best Buy to co-founding Slync and ultimately raising tens of millions of dollars from private equity investors, according to Forbes.

The rapid ascension saw him flaunting luxury cars, rubbing shoulders with celebrities, and making substantial sponsorship deals with sporting events and athletes unrelated to the logistics industry, like the Dubai Desert Classic golf tournament.

The aforementioned $20 million windfall was allegedly used to fund the purchase of a $16 million private Gulfstream jet and a nearly half-million dollar suite at an unnamed NFL stadium, according to the press release.

In another instance, Kirchner even tried to purchase two English football teams, even after employee paychecks were halted at the company.

“I don’t know that [Slync] was a business so much as it was a kleptocracy … Chris Kirchner was ultimately using sports to buy access to things he wouldn’t have had as a regular guy,” a former employee reportedly disclosed to Forbes in July 2022.

Upon his arrest, authorities confiscated some of this luxurious property, including a Rolls Royce Cullinan SUV.

“This defendant flaunted his apparent wealth while allegedly diverting millions from company coffers into his private bank account,” according to Simonton, per the release.

“Slync investors and employees are understandably outraged, and we sympathize,” Simonton said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also levied fraud charges against Kirchner resulting from a misrepresentation of financial conditions. Those conditions allegedly helped him obtain over $67 million from investors, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Months before the arrest, Kirchner was forced out of the company he started following allegations of fraud, including financial misrepresentation to the board. In one example, Kirchner allegedly disclosed to the board that Slync generated $30 million in 2021, according to Forbes. In reality, the logistics firm pulled in closer to $1 million.

Slync’s chief marketing officer, Greg Kefer, told the Dallas Morning News that the company is cooperating with ongoing investigations.

“Slync is cooperating with the government in its investigations and, as a victim of Christopher Kirchner’s actions, looks forward to a just resolution of this matter,” he said.

Per the DMN, Kefer also stressed that the “investigation is not the company’s primary focus,” assuring investors and customers that the firm has “moved on” with its new CEO, John Urban.