Former Slync CEO Chris Kirchner sentenced to 20 years in prison

Before the verdict was announced, Kirchner’s public defenders filed two motions to withdraw from the federal court, which the judge denied. According to court documents, since being found guilty in January, Kirchner has told his lawyer that he wants to “represent counsel for the remainder of this criminal case.”

On June 24, Kirchner stated that he disagreed with his legal team’s strategy and “would terminate their collaboration if (his) strategy was not followed.” Later that week, Kirchner refused to receive his lawyers, “making clear his intention to either hire (a lawyer) or represent himself,” the motion said.

Lavish lifestyle

The jury found that Kirchner, who served as CEO of Slync from 2017 until he was fired by the FreightTech company’s board in August 2022, defrauded investors of nearly $25 million for his personal use. Before his firing, sources told FreightWaves that Kirchner had come under scrutiny after failing to pay employees for months, using his private jet for celebrity golf tournaments and trying to buy an English soccer team.

Under Kirchner’s leadership, Slync, once valued at $240 million, raised nearly $70 million, including the $60 million Series B funding round that closed in February 2021 led by venture capital firms Goldman Sachs Growth, ACME Ventures, 235 Capital Partners, Correlation Ventures and other existing investors.

Shortly after the company raised the $60 million in capital in 2021, court documents in a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a former company vice president alleged that Kirchner purchased a 2010 Gulfstream G550 jet for $16 million. It has since been sold.

Former company executives who were fired by Kirchner said they never had access to the company’s accounts and raised their concerns with the board, saying Kirchner was the only one with access to the company’s investment account, which also held the $60 million Series B funding.

Between April 2020 and March 2022, Kirchner initiated nearly 100 electronic transfers, moving money from Slync’s account at Silicon Valley Bank to the company’s account at JP Morgan Chase, an account to which only he had access. Prosecutors alleged that Kirchner used the funds to buy expensive watches and cars and secure a luxury suite at a Dallas-area professional sports team’s stadium while Slync struggled to pay salaries in the spring of 2022. He even convinced at least four investors to send Slync around $850,000 as part of a purported Series C investment round that was not approved by the company’s board of directors.

Kirchner, speaking on behalf of Slync, initially blamed an internal administrative error but later said the payroll problems were due to the company’s inability to withdraw funds on time. But investors led by Goldman Sachs agreed to provide additional funds to pay U.S. and Canadian employees about $3.8 million.

When Kirchner learned of his suspension, he retaliated by blocking some executives from the company’s communications channels.

Kirchner, who had previously ordered the suspension of nearly a dozen current and former employees for speaking out about the Dallas-based logistics technology startup’s insolvency, was placed on leave in late July 2022. Prosecutors alleged he attempted to delete nearly 18 gigabytes of Slync data, including emails.

Although Slync received an additional $24 million cash injection from Goldman Sachs in February 2023 to keep the logistics platform afloat, the company was forced to look for an alternative to traditional bankruptcy and wind down operations in October 2023.

Three weeks before Slync filed for bankruptcy, in September 2023, Kirchner filed suit against his former employer in the Court of Chancery in Delaware seeking advance payment of attorneys’ fees and damages.

Kirchner wanted Slync to pay his legal fees in his fraud case after his assets were frozen.

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