AI chat firm GameOn couple arrested for defrauding investors of over $60M to finance wedding and more
Authorities yesterday arrested GameOn Technology founder Alexander Charles Beckman and attorney Valerie Lau Beckman (a married couple) for allegedly defrauding investors of $60 million.
In a 25-count indictment, the U.S. Department of Justice said the couple allegedly falsified dozens of bank statements and audit reports defraud GameOn investors. The alleged fraud spanned six years.
Beckman was the founder and former CEO of GameOn and last year he resigned from the company after cofounders alleged at the time that $11 million went missing from the company’s bank account, which was left with just 37 cents instead. The company shut down and laid off staff in July 2024. Authorities charged him and attorney Valerie Lau Beckman — a married couple — with conspiracy, wire fraud, securities fraud, identity theft, and other offenses. Lau was also charged with obstruction of justice.
According to the indictment filed on January 21, Beckman, 41, and Lau, 38, both of San Francisco, allegedly conspired to defraud GameOn investors, GameOn, and a bank. GameOn was a San Francisco-based private business that offers a software program claiming artificial intelligence functionality that mimics human conversation and interaction, commonly known as a chatbot or “chat.”
