A startup founder convinced his childhood friend to invest her retirement money, then spent it on himself 💀


Back in 2020, during covid, a startup called Bowmo, Inc was being pushed as the next AI recruiting play
Michael Lakshin reconnected with his childhood friend from Russia, built that trust back up, then found out she had about $90K in retirement savings
He told her to invest, she trusted him and put in $84K, met him and his co founder Edward Aizman, signed the papers, sent the money, thinking she was getting into a real opportunity
But instead of building the business, a big chunk of that money got moved into Lakshin’s personal company, And started getting spent on trips, shopping and personal expenses
In 2024, the state stepped in and hit them with a fraud case, accused them of misleading her and basically using trust to take her money
Case got settled in 2025, they agreed to pay back part of it
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