Hunsicker fabricated shareholders and falsified financial records, prosecutors say
A federal judge in Manhattan sentenced Christine Hunsicker, the 49-year-old founder and former chief executive of fashion-tech company CaaStle Inc., to five years in prison on Thursday for a roughly $300 million fraud scheme. The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office announced the sentence. Hunsicker was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following her prison term.
To raise capital, Hunsicker gave investors a series of fabricated documents that the Southern District of New York prosecutor’s office identified as “falsified income statements, fake audited financial statements, fictitious bank records, and sham corporate documents.” The materials dramatically overstated CaaStle’s profits and cash reserves, prosecutors said. Hunsicker told investors their money would go toward buying discounted shares from existing shareholders, but she had “fabricated the existence of these shareholders,” prosecutors said. She then used the funds as new capital for the company while concealing its true financial condition.
Hunsicker had “touted CaaStle as a fast-growing company with a valuation exceeding $1.4 billion” while knowing it was actually “in financial distress with dwindling cash and significant expenses,” according to the prosecutor’s office. The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office described her as “a well-known entrepreneur and businessperson in the fashion-tech industry.”
Federal authorities alleged that Hunsicker continued her fraudulent conduct even after law enforcement agents seized her electronic devices in March 2025. Hunsicker pleaded guilty in March to one count of securities fraud. The scheme “defrauded hundreds of investors,” authorities said.
CaaStle went bankrupt in spring 2025 after the company disclosed that Hunsicker had significantly overstated its finances. The company began as a web-based clothing-rental business for plus-sized women and later pivoted to selling its platform to outside fashion companies. Hunsicker’s attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.