Australians fitness startup Zenbly and its fabulist founder
July 28, 2023 4:13 PM Subscribe
The fall of Zenbly. Australian fitness startup founder seems to have faked his AI PhD from Columbia University, with a fabricated degree certificate and everything.
According to The Age:
“… several employees, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect future employment prospects, noticed the PhD – apparently from Columbia University, for a doctor of philosophy in applied artificial intelligence – that hung on Leven’s office wall... Something was off. The seal at the bottom of the certificate was a different shape from those that appeared online. The font was, too. And a double-spaced typo felt like it would have been fixed on a document from one of the world’s top universities… When asked about Leven’s alleged attendance, a spokeswoman for the university said: “We are unable to locate any information on this individual in our records.””
Drawing parallels with Elizabeth Holmes (metafilter), the article notes:
“ When Zenbly went into administration, Leven told WLP he believed its intellectual property was worth between $8 million and $12 million. But all of Zenbly’s assets, including the intellectual property, were sold for $500,000 by WLP during the administration phase. Those rights went to a new company called Xoda.”
“ Minutes from the same meeting show Mattiusi said that “we have concerns about the amount of the sales price in respect of the company assets sold to Xoda, particularly in light of the pre-appointment activity of the company’s related parties who now have interests in Xoda”.”
Xoda declined to comment…
Wayback machine link.
According to The Age:
“… several employees, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect future employment prospects, noticed the PhD – apparently from Columbia University, for a doctor of philosophy in applied artificial intelligence – that hung on Leven’s office wall... Something was off. The seal at the bottom of the certificate was a different shape from those that appeared online. The font was, too. And a double-spaced typo felt like it would have been fixed on a document from one of the world’s top universities… When asked about Leven’s alleged attendance, a spokeswoman for the university said: “We are unable to locate any information on this individual in our records.””
Drawing parallels with Elizabeth Holmes (metafilter), the article notes:
“ When Zenbly went into administration, Leven told WLP he believed its intellectual property was worth between $8 million and $12 million. But all of Zenbly’s assets, including the intellectual property, were sold for $500,000 by WLP during the administration phase. Those rights went to a new company called Xoda.”
“ Minutes from the same meeting show Mattiusi said that “we have concerns about the amount of the sales price in respect of the company assets sold to Xoda, particularly in light of the pre-appointment activity of the company’s related parties who now have interests in Xoda”.”
Xoda declined to comment…
Wayback machine link.
jenfullmoon: you don't happen to remember the name of the book do you? It sounds fascinating!
posted by ninazer0 at 5:32 PM on July 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by ninazer0 at 5:32 PM on July 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
Let's just say a lot of of fraudsters are fond of making up **** or at least, make their **** look bigger than it is.
I used to do a fair bit of scam tracking and scambusting, and one guy I tracked (who's probably serving a lengthy sentence in China right now) managed to scam people in BOTH China and in the US over his 10+ year "career" by claiming to be a graduate of Harvard Business School, a devout Christian, among other things.
When I looked into the details, I found that what he did was he attended a non-credit certificate course on "Venture Capital and Private Equity Program" for "executive education". And HBS will NOT verify his attendance WITHOUT the participant's permission!
But what's REALLY interesting is this guy later created something called "Harvard Global Institute", which is NOT an educational institution, as it just have a .ORG domain, yet its website is basically a school website, with "college of engineering", "college of health", "college of media arts", and "college of Business". Yet the same logo also appeared in ANOTHER organization linked to him, called "JOSEPH Global Institute" (not miscapitalized)
Then this guy got a "PhD in Theology" from this JOSEPH Global Institute (according to a biography), when he stated on LinkedIn that he's the FOUNDER of Joseph Global Institute. That's like getting a degree from your own school, isn't it?
The same guy was believed to have assisted in some sort of fraud in China, then fled to the US. He started some sort of Olympic fund in the US and claimed approval from the Chinese Embassy, which proved to be false. His started a Ponzi scheme in the US and that got shut down by the SEC back in 2014, and he fled back to China. There he restarted the Ponzi, and got shut down by China in 2015, and this time the Chinese authorities caught him.
I'm not going to list all his shenanigans, as it's way too long a story. But it appears a lot of people we celebrate as geniuses also have a fake it till you make it attitude.
posted by kschang at 5:35 PM on July 28, 2023 [7 favorites]
I used to do a fair bit of scam tracking and scambusting, and one guy I tracked (who's probably serving a lengthy sentence in China right now) managed to scam people in BOTH China and in the US over his 10+ year "career" by claiming to be a graduate of Harvard Business School, a devout Christian, among other things.
When I looked into the details, I found that what he did was he attended a non-credit certificate course on "Venture Capital and Private Equity Program" for "executive education". And HBS will NOT verify his attendance WITHOUT the participant's permission!
But what's REALLY interesting is this guy later created something called "Harvard Global Institute", which is NOT an educational institution, as it just have a .ORG domain, yet its website is basically a school website, with "college of engineering", "college of health", "college of media arts", and "college of Business". Yet the same logo also appeared in ANOTHER organization linked to him, called "JOSEPH Global Institute" (not miscapitalized)
Then this guy got a "PhD in Theology" from this JOSEPH Global Institute (according to a biography), when he stated on LinkedIn that he's the FOUNDER of Joseph Global Institute. That's like getting a degree from your own school, isn't it?
The same guy was believed to have assisted in some sort of fraud in China, then fled to the US. He started some sort of Olympic fund in the US and claimed approval from the Chinese Embassy, which proved to be false. His started a Ponzi scheme in the US and that got shut down by the SEC back in 2014, and he fled back to China. There he restarted the Ponzi, and got shut down by China in 2015, and this time the Chinese authorities caught him.
I'm not going to list all his shenanigans, as it's way too long a story. But it appears a lot of people we celebrate as geniuses also have a fake it till you make it attitude.
posted by kschang at 5:35 PM on July 28, 2023 [7 favorites]
As a member, nay, co-founder of the United Nations Organization for the Monitoring of Nefarious Online Misconduct kNown to be Owing to Misrepresentation* (UNOMNOMNOM) I condemn anyone who gets caught falsifying credentials.
* Our acronym sounds less forced in languages such as Swisslanderish.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 5:54 PM on July 28, 2023 [12 favorites]
* Our acronym sounds less forced in languages such as Swisslanderish.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 5:54 PM on July 28, 2023 [12 favorites]
My “World’s Greatest Grandpa” mug is 100% legit, though.
posted by chasing at 7:18 PM on July 28, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by chasing at 7:18 PM on July 28, 2023 [11 favorites]
And "largely blank diploma" is a giant WTF.
It would help if they offered a copy of someone else's physics degree for comparison. I have no clue about Penn, but universities are weird and it wouldn't shock me if different units of the university issued diplomas differently. Or one of those diplomas is utterly fake. (Note that one is wholly on Latin and the other isn't.)
Wrong degree names, wrong dates, diplomas signed by Schwartzenegger long after he's out of office....
The time travel is in other other direction, but I got my undergrad diploma reissued after I changed my name. I don't think it says it's a reissue, but I'll admit to not digging it out to check. At any rate, I consequently have a UC diploma signed by the wrong governor and the old and new list honors differently.
posted by hoyland at 5:34 AM on July 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
It would help if they offered a copy of someone else's physics degree for comparison. I have no clue about Penn, but universities are weird and it wouldn't shock me if different units of the university issued diplomas differently. Or one of those diplomas is utterly fake. (Note that one is wholly on Latin and the other isn't.)
Wrong degree names, wrong dates, diplomas signed by Schwartzenegger long after he's out of office....
The time travel is in other other direction, but I got my undergrad diploma reissued after I changed my name. I don't think it says it's a reissue, but I'll admit to not digging it out to check. At any rate, I consequently have a UC diploma signed by the wrong governor and the old and new list honors differently.
posted by hoyland at 5:34 AM on July 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
The seal at the bottom of the certificate was a different shape from those that appeared online. The font was, too. And a double-spaced typo felt like it would have been fixed
Midjourney: /imagine prompt: Make me an AI Masters degree for my office wall. Totes realistic. No scrubs.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 8:03 AM on July 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
Midjourney: /imagine prompt: Make me an AI Masters degree for my office wall. Totes realistic. No scrubs.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 8:03 AM on July 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
Obligatory Community Season 1, Episode 1 YouTube video
posted by objectfox at 2:13 PM on July 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by objectfox at 2:13 PM on July 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
I love reading about scammers and con men. Please, friends, memail (or just list here, maybe) good articles, books, podcasts, etc.
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 4:12 PM on July 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 4:12 PM on July 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
Aside from just photoshopping/straight-up-making-up a diploma, degree, and/or an educational institution, there are also "institutions" where the classwork and graduation requirements are, shall we say, exceedingly flexible. In the relatively brief time between professional librarian gigs on my post-MLS resume, I worked at a drug/alcohol recovery agency whose new director was struggling to restore (assuming that it ever had any) its professionalism and adherence to the requirements of the state agency whose funding it absolutely depended on, and part of that was taking a closer look at the academic and training qualifications of the counselors; one in particular had a degree from the College of You'll Never Really Check Into Us Because You'll Take Anyone You Can Get Who Will Work For What You Can Pay (I don't think that that was the exact name but it might as well have been), where every course was an independent study that was pass-fail and "pass" was really "check cleared." I passed that info to the director, she passed it to the board, they fired her, and I doubt that you will be shocked to learn that the agency is long gone.
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:16 PM on July 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:16 PM on July 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
I sadly don't remember the name of the book. I gather it was NOT something sold off of Amazon, it was a very specialty book one of my old bosses picked up at a conference. I do remember taking notes out of the thing for a possible presentation on it (which never happened since that boss left), I could attempt to find wherever those notes are when I'm back at work, if I remember. (MeMail me Monday?) However, I did find this PDF which I think was possibly by the author/from this book, if that helps. I think it was on Operation Dipscam.
As for other diploma info, my experience in this stuff is UC related, not Penn related, but I'd be really shocked if Penn was drastically different from UC on standard degree typical things.
It would help if they offered a copy of someone else's physics degree for comparison. I have no clue about Penn, but universities are weird and it wouldn't shock me if different units of the university issued diplomas differently. Or one of those diplomas is utterly fake. (Note that one is wholly on Latin and the other isn't.)
I doubt the econ vs. physics degrees are different in presentation beyond the names. Unless it's a drastically different program, like a professional school vs. undergrad, usually undergrad degrees are pretty standardized. This is one of the reasons why I think the "physics" degree is a fake. Also, it is a HUGE BIG DEAL to have the name of your major, the type of degree, the date, etc. on the fancy piece of paper. Everyone asks about it when wanting proof of a degree. Who in God's name doesn't put that information on the thing? If you want to use it internationally (and Elon ain't American, so that might come up), there would be HUGE drama. Why is it blank?! It looks like terrible Photoshop. I've never seen a blanked out degree even as a sample. I've spent way too much time around college people and I'm aware people don't know when they graduate, forget to file to do it but walk in a ceremony and then go around for X numbers of years swearing they graduated but nobody's checked, so I don't really find him claiming he graduated in one year and then oops, he does it two years later to be a surprise. But "eh, we'll just let you slide on the requirements" made me think OH HELLS NO. The requirements you follow are based on when you started, not what the requirements are when you finish, generally speaking. AFAIK if you are doing two bachelor's degrees, you don't do one, totally finish, get the diploma in the mail and graduate, and then go back and finish the other one later, which he makes it sound like he did (though I note both "degrees" are for the same year). I seriously can't believe someone just called up the school or NSC and those orgs were all "no, this is totally fine," except well, rich dingus gets what he wants.
Just for the heck of it, I googled for "University of Pennsylvania fake diploma" and it looks like the fake ones don't spell out what the degree is, a la the "physics" degree.
At any rate, I consequently have a UC diploma signed by the wrong governor and the old and new list honors differently.
I note that if you get a diploma reissued after a signer has left their office, printers do not store, keep track of and use the old signatures. (Why? $$$ and you get charged for "saving" them.) You will get whatever signature is currently being used at the time. New diplomas due to name changes don't have "reissued" labeled on them for that specific issue, but they pretty much are. I have reissued ones myself because my mother lost all my diplomas TWICE (hence why she doesn't get to have any more of them) and they aren't updated with whoever the governor was then either.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:31 PM on July 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
As for other diploma info, my experience in this stuff is UC related, not Penn related, but I'd be really shocked if Penn was drastically different from UC on standard degree typical things.
It would help if they offered a copy of someone else's physics degree for comparison. I have no clue about Penn, but universities are weird and it wouldn't shock me if different units of the university issued diplomas differently. Or one of those diplomas is utterly fake. (Note that one is wholly on Latin and the other isn't.)
I doubt the econ vs. physics degrees are different in presentation beyond the names. Unless it's a drastically different program, like a professional school vs. undergrad, usually undergrad degrees are pretty standardized. This is one of the reasons why I think the "physics" degree is a fake. Also, it is a HUGE BIG DEAL to have the name of your major, the type of degree, the date, etc. on the fancy piece of paper. Everyone asks about it when wanting proof of a degree. Who in God's name doesn't put that information on the thing? If you want to use it internationally (and Elon ain't American, so that might come up), there would be HUGE drama. Why is it blank?! It looks like terrible Photoshop. I've never seen a blanked out degree even as a sample. I've spent way too much time around college people and I'm aware people don't know when they graduate, forget to file to do it but walk in a ceremony and then go around for X numbers of years swearing they graduated but nobody's checked, so I don't really find him claiming he graduated in one year and then oops, he does it two years later to be a surprise. But "eh, we'll just let you slide on the requirements" made me think OH HELLS NO. The requirements you follow are based on when you started, not what the requirements are when you finish, generally speaking. AFAIK if you are doing two bachelor's degrees, you don't do one, totally finish, get the diploma in the mail and graduate, and then go back and finish the other one later, which he makes it sound like he did (though I note both "degrees" are for the same year). I seriously can't believe someone just called up the school or NSC and those orgs were all "no, this is totally fine," except well, rich dingus gets what he wants.
Just for the heck of it, I googled for "University of Pennsylvania fake diploma" and it looks like the fake ones don't spell out what the degree is, a la the "physics" degree.
At any rate, I consequently have a UC diploma signed by the wrong governor and the old and new list honors differently.
I note that if you get a diploma reissued after a signer has left their office, printers do not store, keep track of and use the old signatures. (Why? $$$ and you get charged for "saving" them.) You will get whatever signature is currently being used at the time. New diplomas due to name changes don't have "reissued" labeled on them for that specific issue, but they pretty much are. I have reissued ones myself because my mother lost all my diplomas TWICE (hence why she doesn't get to have any more of them) and they aren't updated with whoever the governor was then either.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:31 PM on July 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
Almost a decade ago, a friend of mine called out a fraudster in the supplements area (Canada - it's much much better than the US, but is still a shitshow) with a local reporter in the city's top newspaper.
One of the tells was that the fraudster was claiming to have a "PhD(c)" - the (c) was for candidate.
I ran into one of his job postings last week, he's still at it and still appending his name with PhD(c).
posted by porpoise at 11:20 PM on July 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
One of the tells was that the fraudster was claiming to have a "PhD(c)" - the (c) was for candidate.
I ran into one of his job postings last week, he's still at it and still appending his name with PhD(c).
posted by porpoise at 11:20 PM on July 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
I'm reminded of "bronze swimming certificate, silver swimming certificate" from Red Dwarf now!
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:27 AM on July 30, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:27 AM on July 30, 2023 [2 favorites]
I guess pretending to have a fake PhD still has some clout? I have a PhD and I don't even remember the last time that mattered for anything (and I work in academia). It feels like saying "PhD" is more often used for scams nowadays...
posted by Pyrogenesis at 3:40 AM on July 30, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Pyrogenesis at 3:40 AM on July 30, 2023 [2 favorites]
It's impressive to people in Asia, usually.
There was a guy in Pakistan who registered a dozen different fake schools. It took years to even get ONE set of domains away from the guy, and I doubt the judgement in the US can be collected in Pakistan.
posted by kschang at 1:01 PM on July 30, 2023
There was a guy in Pakistan who registered a dozen different fake schools. It took years to even get ONE set of domains away from the guy, and I doubt the judgement in the US can be collected in Pakistan.
posted by kschang at 1:01 PM on July 30, 2023
Seems like a pretty routine administration/liquidation. Start-up boss lies to potential investors about the value of the 'product' the company has, but still fails to get sufficient investment to keep the lie going, then pretends to be upset that the 'product' gets sold by the administrator for 1/20 of the fake value. Also pretty common for people trying to attract investors to 'enhance' their credentials and the only surprise here is that he seems to have cobbled something shoddy up rather than spending a few bucks online on one that is indistinguishable from genuine (except by verification with the alleged issuing institution, of course).
What did stand out to me, for all the wrong reasons, is the resignation of Directors just before going into administration, and for sure none of them will be held to account for any debts or have any limitation placed on them by ASIC because they weren't officers at the time the administration was declared. Time and time again we see this happening and nobody in authority wants to do anything about it. When companies collapse, there are almost always people that get hurt and these people spend their lives benefiting from hurting people over and over, but are never held to account. It's wrong wrong wrong but every side of politics is fine with it, apparently.
posted by dg at 6:44 PM on July 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
What did stand out to me, for all the wrong reasons, is the resignation of Directors just before going into administration, and for sure none of them will be held to account for any debts or have any limitation placed on them by ASIC because they weren't officers at the time the administration was declared. Time and time again we see this happening and nobody in authority wants to do anything about it. When companies collapse, there are almost always people that get hurt and these people spend their lives benefiting from hurting people over and over, but are never held to account. It's wrong wrong wrong but every side of politics is fine with it, apparently.
posted by dg at 6:44 PM on July 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
Oh that's too bad, I guess he isn't qualified to run a bro-science fitness startup now?
posted by atrazine at 4:16 AM on July 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by atrazine at 4:16 AM on July 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
Don.Kinsayder, per your request, the dramatization of another Australian scammer, Melissa Caddick.
I haven’t seen it, but followed the case in the news, and there are some twists. Despite the police finding a foot, questions remain about whether she is actually dead or not… The romance of the scam, I guess?
posted by ec2y at 4:46 AM on August 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
I haven’t seen it, but followed the case in the news, and there are some twists. Despite the police finding a foot, questions remain about whether she is actually dead or not… The romance of the scam, I guess?
posted by ec2y at 4:46 AM on August 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
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And not to drag a certain turd into this thread except I totally am, I found this whole possible fake degree thing fascinating. Elon's "explanation" for his degree shenanigans makes me smell rats. And "largely blank diploma" is a giant WTF. Now, I don't know shit about attending Penn, but all of this doesn't sound like how my college experiences went with regards to degree attainment, or anyone else's I know of either. I don't have any hookup with NSC but if I did, I'd want to check.
Back to this story, I got some George Santos vibes from the made-up club this guy was in, too.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:56 PM on July 28, 2023 [4 favorites]