Michael LaFave, the Manhattan-based founder of AI startup Cette AI, has sued Voya Financial, accusing the firm of running a months-long effort to break into his personal devices, swipe proprietary AI models and even track his movements around his rural Ontario cottage, according to court papers. LaFave says the alleged digital snooping started after he filed a long-term disability claim and turned over metadata about his devices and location. The lawsuit asks a New York court for money damages and an order blocking any further use of the company’s research.
As reported by Courthouse News Service, LaFave filed the suit on May 26, 2026, in New York County Supreme Court, naming Voya Financial and its investment subsidiary as defendants. The filing says the trouble allegedly began in 2025, after LaFave submitted a long-term disability claim and provided device and location metadata to Voya. Courthouse News Service also noted that a Voya representative did not immediately return a request for comment.
What the complaint alleges
The 35-page civil complaint, available via Courthouse News Service, says the intrusions ramped up around December 25–26, 2025, when LaFave’s rural Ontario network allegedly logged more than 3 billion “dropped packets” and activity the filing describes as consistent with attempts to wipe traces of what was happening. “Defendants used sophisticated remote-access capabilities to obtain or attempt root-level access,” the complaint alleges, adding that Voya purportedly accessed LaFave’s GitHub repository on January 9, 2026, and transferred source code.
The complaint brings 11 counts, including alleged violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and misappropriation of trade secrets, and it seeks damages and injunctive relief tied to investigatory costs and emotional distress.
Voya and the corporate backdrop
Voya Financial is a New York-based retirement, benefits and investment firm whose filings list its principal place of business at 230 Park Avenue in Manhattan. Voya Financial details its corporate structure and business lines in its investor materials. According to the complaint, a Voya report valued a subset of Cette AI’s portfolio between $50 million and $100 million, a figure LaFave describes in the filing as conservative.
Legal stakes and next steps
The suit lays out a grab bag of causes of action, from trespass to chattels and unfair competition to civil conspiracy, anchored by several federal computer-fraud claims. LaFave has retained Tor Ekeland Law, a firm noted in the filing for its experience with Computer Fraud and Abuse Act litigation, to bring the case on behalf of Cette AI and its founder. Tor Ekeland Law represents the plaintiffs in the case and handled the complaint’s submission to the court.
Whether a judge ultimately buys the technical forensics laid out in the complaint will be sorted out in discovery, but the lawsuit already highlights tricky questions about who can access sensitive technical material provided during insurance claims or corporate diligence. For now, the case sits in New York County and is expected to move through early motions, evidence-preservation fights and, if it survives, a potentially lengthy discovery phase.
