Australian AI startup founder jailed nine years for defrauding investors of $39 million（約62億円） through forged accounts and diverting $7.7 million（約12億円） to luxury homes.

What happened: David Fairfull, founder of Metigy, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment with a non-parole period of five years and four months after pleading guilty to making false and misleading statements to investors and dishonestly using his position as director. Over nearly four years, he forged bank statements and fabricated revenue figures across successive capital raises—by May 2022, he presented monthly net revenue of nearly $9 million（約14億円） and annual recurring revenue of $107 million（約170億円） when the company's actual revenue that month was zero. In November 2021, he also withdrew $7.7 million（約12億円） from the company's account to buy two luxury homes in Mosman and Kangaroo Valley.

Why it matters: Metigy, which marketed itself as a machine-learning platform to help small businesses with digital marketing, attracted backing from major investors including Regal Funds Management, Five V Capital, and Thorney Investments, and was valued at up to $1 billion（約1600億円） before collapsing in July 2022. The fraud devastated creditors—the company owed about $39 million（約62億円） and about 75 staff lost their jobs. The judge emphasized that white-collar crime of this kind is difficult to detect, investigate, and prosecute, making general deterrence a primary consideration in sentencing.

What to watch: The administrator found the $7.7 million（約12億円） withdrawal rendered the company insolvent; Fairfull repaid about $2.94 million（約4.7億円） before the collapse. Liquidators have since recovered funds from the sale of both properties, though creditors are expected to receive only a fraction of what they are owed. Fairfull was declared bankrupt in November 2022, his second insolvency.