A Cincinnati startup founder is headed to federal prison after admitting he lied to backers and pulled millions out of his own company. Yesterday, 43-year-old Benjamin Cantey was sentenced to more than three years behind bars after pleading guilty to wire fraud tied to Carbon IQ Inc., which did business as Rumby. Prosecutors say investors together lost more than $6.5 million in the scheme.
Prosecutors' account of the scheme
Federal prosecutors say that between 2020 and 2022, Cantey repeatedly overstated Rumby’s revenue, growth and cash on hand while pitching the startup to investors. At one point, he allegedly told investors Rumby had $1.5 million in the bank at the end of May 2022 when the company’s account actually showed roughly -$53,000, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Where investigators say the money went
Investigators say about $850,000 in investor cash was steered into personal spending instead of company operations. That included money that helped fund the purchase of a 5,000-square-foot Hyde Park house valued at about $1.7 million. Local reporting and court filings indicate the money was presented to investors as a loan for a trade show before it was applied to the home purchase, per WCPO.
Plea, indictment and sentence
Cantey was indicted in December 2024 on six counts, including four countsn of wire fraud and two counts of engaging in monetary transactions tied to unlawful activity, court records show. He went on to plead guilty in 2025 and was sentenced yesterday to 40 months in federal prison after admitting his role in the investor scheme, as reported by WKRC Local 12.
Legal implications
The indictment’s wire-fraud and related monetary-transaction counts carry significant federal penalties and can also serve as a foundation for civil lawsuits from investors who say they were misled. Local reporting on the grand jury filing notes the case is a textbook example of how allegedly falsified pitch decks and financial statements can trigger both criminal charges and civil exposure, according to WLWT.
Investor takeaways
For Cincinnati’s startup crowd, the case is a reminder that trust is not a due-diligence strategy. Investors are urged to scrutinize financial claims, seek bank-level confirmations and insist on clear, enforceable terms before wiring large sums. Criminal convictions can punish fraud, but recovering losses often means filing civil suits or pursuing asset-forfeiture cases, so anyone who believes they were hit in a deal like this should lock down their records and talk to an attorney sooner rather than later.
