Plastc Swiped $9 Million From Backers, Now It Plans To File For Bankruptcy and Shut Down (theverge.com)

Plastc announced today that it is planning to file for bankruptcy and will shut down on April 20, 2017, after raising more than $9 million through preorders and shipping to no backers. "Plastc launched in 2014 with the promise of shipping a single card that could digitally hold 20 credit or debit cards that a user could switch between," reports The Verge. From the report: With that, all backers' money is lost, and no Plastc cards will ship. Plastc announced the news on its website today along with the fact that all its employees have been laid off. Its customer care and social media channels have also been shut down. The company explains that it thought it would close $3.5 million in funding in February this year, but that fell through. Another possible investment deal of $6.75 million fell through, too. What's not clear is how more than $9 million wasn't sufficient to get backers their orders. Backers will likely have questions and want their money back, but with no one to turn to from Plastc, they'll likely be out the cash.

Comments

Normal practice in Corporate America

[Required Snark]

This is the de facto business model in the US: steal from somebody. To prove my point all I have to do is say "Wells Fargo".

The three types of suckers are investors, clients and workers. The most profitable form is to steal from all three and keep the fraud rolling along indefinitely. That is the fundamental model for the financial industry. All the top banks, investment houses, hedge funds, etc skim the wealth generated in the country and put it in their own pockets. That's, along with regressive taxes, underlies the ever increasing wealth disparity between rich and poor.

So what do you think will happen to the scam artists who pulled this off? Will they suffer any economic or reputational damage? No way. They all got out fat and happy, and their business reputation will be enhanced because of their successful raid on a gullible public. I expect they will get better positions with larger companies because of their proven track record of theft.

I expect no change, although it might get worse. I just wish they would stop calling it capitalism.