Fashion Entrepreneur Hunsicker On $1 Million Bail Over CaaStle Fraud

Christine Hunsicker, the entrepreneur and founder of fashion platform CaaStle Inc., has been released on a $1 million bail package after being charged by federal prosecutors with defrauding investors out of over $300 million following the collapse of her tech company.

The 48-year-old Hunsicker of Lafayette, New Jersey turned herself in to face charges on Friday morning past and pleaded not guilty that afternoon during a court appearance in Manhattan.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also filed a lawsuit against her in the same court, claiming that she created and disseminated false financial statements and audit reports to investors while raising more than $250 million for CaaStle.

The latest legal moves come months after Hunsicker resigned as CaaStle’s CEO over allegations she misled investors about the company’s financial success and as a result she now faces a six-count indictment that include wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, making false statements to a bank and aggravated identity theft.

In the indictment Friday, prosecutors claimed that Hunsicker defrauded investors in CaaStle and Brendan Hoffman’s fashion investment platform P180 out of more than $300 million. She allegedly fabricated documents to portray CaaStle as a “high-growth, private company with substantial available cash” when in reality it faced significant financial stress from February 2019 up to around March 2025, according to the indictment.

Earlier this year the board told shareholders that Hunsicker had allegedly handed over financial statements exaggerating CaaStle’s revenue to certain investors. As a result, Hunsicker stepped down as CEO and CaaStle sought Chapter 7 protection in Delaware on June 20, declaring $10-$50 million worth of liabilities.

Prosecutors allege, however, that Hunsicker once valued the CaaStle business at more than $1.4 billion.

Hunsicker Team Says More To Story

Lawyers for Hunsicker said that she had fully cooperated with the federal probes, however prosecutors “nonetheless has chosen to present to the public an incomplete and very distorted picture in today’s indictment.”

Lawyers Michael Levy and Anna Skotko said in a joint statement: “There is much more to this story, and we look forward to telling it.”

Authorities said Hunsicker falsified CaaStle’s financial statements and bank records to raise capital. This included alleged representations that CaaStle earned $66.3 million on revenue of $439.9 million in 2023, when in reality it lost $81 million on revenue of $15.7 million.

Prosecutors said Hunsicker fraudulently raised more than $275 million for CaaStle and $30 million for a related venture, P180.

Beginning as Gwynnie Bee Inc., before changing its name in 2018, CaaStle worked with brands and retailers such as Express, Ann Taylor, Loft and Bloomingdale’s to rent clothes to consumers. The business-to-business technology and logistics company enables apparel brands and retailers to offer customers subscription-based rentals of apparel.

Hunsicker Sued For P180

Hunsicker has also been sued by some investors and by P180, which she co-founded. P180 accused Hunsicker of fabricating subscribers and revenue and inducing the firm to obtain assets that could be leveraged to continue the CaaStle fraud.

The SEC sued Hunsicker on Friday in the same court, alleging that she created and sent to investors false financial statements from February 2019 to at least March while raising more than $250 million through the offer and sale of preferred stock and common warrants.

The SEC said that while Hunsicker claimed CaaStle had achieved “rapid and steady growth” after a rebrand of the business in 2018 and had become profitable by December 2022, its revenues were decreasing, losses were rising and the company never became profitable.

The complaint further alleged that Hunsicker misled investors into believing they were buying shares in secondary transactions from earlier investors. However, that chare claims these investors were purchasing original issue shares directly from the company, and investor interests were diluted as a result.

Hunsicker also allegedly created and distributed false capitalization tables that omitted the new share issuances.