Joonko Founder Pleads Guilty to Securities Fraud Over $27 Million Raise

Joonko pitched an AI recruiting platform with more than 100 customers and work involving more than 100,000 job candidates. Its founder, Ilit Raz, has now pleaded guilty to federal securities fraud in Manhattan after prosecutors said those claims and representations about revenue helped raise about $27 million from investors.

Joonko Diversity was founded in 2016 and marketed AI-based tools intended to help employers find candidates from diverse backgrounds. Raz was its founder and former chief executive. The securities-fraud charge carries a maximum prison term of 20 years, and sentencing had not been scheduled when the case was reported.

The customer claims behind the fundraise

Prosecutors said Raz misled investors about Joonko’s clients and revenue while seeking investment in 2021 and 2022. They said she claimed major international companies used Joonko even though those organizations had never been customers. Prosecutors and the SEC said the company’s claims of more than 100 customers and work with more than 100,000 candidates were false.

Materials prosecutors said were fabricated

• Customer testimonials presented as positive feedback from Joonko clients.
• Bank statements, including one prosecutors alleged overstated the company’s average account balance by millions of dollars.
• Purchase orders with forged signatures from organizations that had no business relationship with Joonko, prosecutors alleged.

A criminal plea, with civil penalties still sought

The investor’s 2023 challenge brought the company’s business evidence into focus. Prosecutors said Raz then sent a forged bank statement and fictitious purchase orders, making customer and financial documentation central to the case rather than a dispute over the platform’s technical performance.

Raz’s plea does not determine her sentence, and the 20-year maximum is not a forecast of the punishment she will receive. Separately, the SEC’s pending civil case seeks penalties, disgorgement, and an officer-and-director bar against her.