Maryse Liburdi (formerly Maryse Thomas) is the former
chairman
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
and
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of
Pokeware Pokeware was a set of protocols, an ad exchange, and a client-server program that enables viewers to search for information about objects within video for real-time search results.
Pokeware was released by Pokeware, a company founded by Maryse Lib ...
, a
technology
Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
company and
ad exchange
An ad exchange is a technology platform that facilitates the buying and selling of media advertising inventory from multiple ad networks. Prices for the inventory are determined through real-time bidding (RTB). The approach is technology-driven as ...
she founded in 1997. In September 2017, she was convicted of fraud for having deceived investors about the financial state of the company.
Other work
Liburdi has been an active member of the lobbying organization Technet and has participated in regional events advocating
innovation economics
Innovation economics is new and growing field of economic theory and applied and experimental economics that emphasizes innovation and entrepreneurship. It comprises both the application of any type of innovations, especially technological, but ...
. In 2017 it was announced that she was one of the managers of a venture capital fund investing in sub-Saharan Africa tech startups.
Fraud conviction
Liburdi was arrested in April 2016 in Rome, stemming from US charges accused of investor fraud in the range of $25–30 million. In June, 2017, she pled guilty of having defrauded investors by falsifying the company's bank accounts, making Pokeware appear to be in better financial condition than it was. Over a million dollars in investor money was spent on Liburdi's personal life.
On September 29, 2017, Liburdi was sentenced to 49 months in prison followed three years of supervised release, and ordered to repay the $7 million and to forfeit another $7 million.
References
External links
Arab NetEndeavour MagazineLondon Loves Business
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liburdi, Maryse
American businesspeople convicted of crimes
American female criminals
American people convicted of fraud
American prisoners and detainees
American technology chief executives
American women chief executives
Living people
MacOS software
Year of birth missing (living people)