Beverage Firm Executives Used Investor Cash on Gucci, SEC Says

SHE Beverage Co. Inc. and three executives raised more than $15 million through unregistered sales of securities then misappropriated “roughly half” for personal use including Gucci and Louis Vuitton purchases, the SEC says in federal court in California.

The company, CEO Lupe Rose, chief financial officer Sonja Shelby, and chief operations officer Katherine Dirden told investors 30% of the funds would go toward product inventory, but “spent only approximately 2% of the monies they raised on beverages,” according to the Securities and Exchange Commission complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

SHE Beverage and ...