This article highlights the stories of three female entrepreneurs who have built large companies and set the standard for cunning.

They built a world of illusions in which the longing for opportunity, wealth, trustworthiness, and prestige became high-profile court cases in 2025.

Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena is the founder and CEO of Licena Group based in Dubai that trades agricultural and petroleum commodities worldwide. The Licena Group’s founder was born in Nigeria and later moved to London, where she received an MS and BS in Mechanical Engineering from University College London. Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena’s career has been far from boring.

Prior to establishing her own company, the Licena Group, she held senior roles at major corporations, most recently at Puma Energy, where she served as CEO having held responsibilities for several regions.  Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena has won various prizes and accolades, including Woman to Watch in 2021. Eghosa has also been designated one of Africa’s 100 Most Influential Women, and she is a TED Talks speaker noted for her influence in defining the future of the oil and gas and energy sectors.

In March 2025, a lawsuit was filed against Licena Group, represented by Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena, demanding a 100% refund of an advance payment of 2.4 million euros. The plaintiff in this case is the Serbian company Gazimpex d.o.o., which entered into a sales contract for the supply of gas oil with a dishonest counterparty, represented by its CEO, Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena. In December 2024, Gazimpex paid €2,400,000 to Licena Group for gas oil. However, neither the goods nor the payment for the goods were received. For a long period, Licena reps gave Gazimpex unfounded optimism by promising to reimburse the funds. However, the legal proceedings have been underway for ten months. Meanwhile, Gazimpex’s funds have been utilized to advance other people’s interests, resulting in losses for Gazimpex d.o.o. This case involves much more complicated details, and we are carefully monitoring its development.

Christine Hunsicker is the CEO and Co-Founder of CaaStle (formerly Gwynnie Bee). CaaStle is a subscription-based clothing service offering women an ‘unlimited closet’ of clothing for rent. The founder herself grew up in Pennsylvania and graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts. Christine Hunsicker has won various accolades and distinctions, including being recognized in Inc. Magazine’s “The Most Impressive Women Entrepreneurs 2016” and Entrepreneur’s “25 Inspiring Entrepreneurs under 40 who are creating The Next Big Thing.”

In 2025, Christine Hunsicker—founder and former CEO of the fashion technology company CaaStle and its related entity P180—was accused of organizing a fraudulent scheme that defrauded investors of over $300 million. The indictment states that Christine Hunsicker forged documents, falsified audit reports, and provided material misrepresentations regarding her company’s financial situation. The scheme devised by the founder of CaaStle was intended to present the company as fast-growing and financially stable in preparation for heading into the IPO. However, the investigation revealed that Christine Hunsicker was fully aware of the company’s serious financial difficulties. Christine Hunsicker was charged with multiple offenses, including wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft. The founder of CaaStle pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released on $1 million bail on 18 July 2025.

C‌harlie Javice, unlike the previous protagonist, pleaded guilty. “I accept the jury’s verdict and take full responsibility for my actions,” she wrote in her letter to the judge. “There are no excuses, only regret — I am truly sorry.” Charlie Javice is the founder of Frank (officially registered as TAPD Inc.). Frank is an American start-up founded by Charlie Javice in 2017. Frank’s major purpose was to provide financial support to students so that they could attend college. Initially, the website only allowed users to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), but Frank later began offering loan services to student borrowers too.  Charlie Javice graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in finance and legal studies.  Just two years after Frank’s launch in 2019, Charlie Javice was on Forbes’ 2019 30 Under 30 – Finance list. However, a year later, Forbes regretted its decision and moved Ms Javice to the magazine’s “Hall of Shame.”

In March 2025, Charlie Javice was sentenced to seven years in prison for defrauding JPMorgan Chase a $175 million illusion in 2021.  JPMorgan Chase acquired Frank in September 2021. However, the bank was unable to send emails to most of the customer base stated by Javice, and concluded that the list had been falsified.  It turns out that, a year prior to selling Frank, Ms Javice requested that a computer science professor generate a fabricated list of individuals, thereby inflating Frank’s customer base to 4.25 million fake users when, in truth, the actual figure was less than 300,000. Furthermore, after selling Frank, Ms Javice herself took up the position of managing director at JPMorgan, overseeing student products at Chase. However, in September 2022, she was suspended from work following a lawsuit filed by her employer, and was subsequently dismissed. On 8 March 2025, Charlie Javice was found guilty of defrauding JPMorgan Chase.  The founder of Frank has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

To some extent, Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena, Christine Hunsicker, and Charlie Javice are, in a way, mirrors of our times. They reflect modern society’s desire for instant success, its trust in authority figures, and its fear of missing out on a luxurious lifestyle. In essence, such people today play on our dreams. Wealth, success, and status—everything we crave—become bait. However, it is vital to realize that fraudsters have influence over us only because we are gullible, not because they are brilliant.