When you think of smartphone brands, Saygus isn't one that automatically comes to mind. Why? Well, Saygus has never actually shipped a unit, so there's that. I guess you could describe its CEO as a futurist due to the never-ending promises of producing an actual product somewhere down the line, just not anytime soon. Instead of delivering a product, the CEO of Saygus is the recipient of a lawsuit from the US Attorney's Office for the District of Utah with a single charge of Securities Fraud.
As gleefully discovered by Android Police, the Saygus CEO, one Chad Sayers, is allegedly the hook for a count of Securities Fraud with the accusation of convincing 300 investors to invest roughly $10 million in the company. Those investments would then result in the “billion-dollar success with the launch of a revolutionary new smartphone.” Sayers is said to have run the ruse between 2012 and 2020. It's unknown who these investors were but it's likely that they weren't exactly tech-savvy and it's almost certain that they had never googled the Saygus ‘brand' before deciding to invest.
So where did the money allegedly go? Well, it doesn't appear to have been spent on R&D or anything else that might have possibly produced an actual product. Instead, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Utah alleges that Sayers spent the investor's money on the following:
- Personal debt (Credit cards, loans, etc)
- Rent
- Legal fees
- Personal car
- Repay prior investors
- Settle investor lawsuits
Sayers allegedly spent a massive $2,7 million on an office for the 10 employees of Saygus to work from, paying $42,000 every month for 25,950 square feet of office space which sounds like everyone had a corner office. Sayers is also in the dock due to omitting to mention to investors that he'd previously attempted and failed to bring a smartphone to market since 2006, each time saying that the phone was in ‘its final stages of production'.
A seven-day jury trial will begin on August 30th for Sayers, with the US government asking for $10 million which seems both like a lot of money but also not enough money at the same time.
At no point has the Saygus V2 been mentioned, in case you were wondering when it will start shipping.
