Startup boss accused of impersonating Gen. David Petraeus pleads guilty to fraud charge

An ex-defense startup CEO accused of impersonating retired US Army Gen. David Petraeus in a brazen scheme to defraud investors has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in connection to the case, the feds said this week.

The executive — 39-year-old Barend “Barry” Oberholzer — pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his actions while seeking funding for his startup X.Labs and “Sword” – an app and linked smartphone case that could purportedly detect concealed weapons, including guns.

According to a criminal complaint filed by the Department of Justice in 2019, Oberholzer “sent multiple emails to at least two venture capital firms” in which he pretended to be the retired general and “endorsed and solicited investment” in his company.

In 2021, a source familiar with the case identified the general as David Petraeus, the Daily News reported.

In one email detailed in the complaint, Oberholzer claimed to be Petraeus while touting the app and smartphone case as “groundbreaking proprietary mobile technology” with the potential to “revolutionize the world’s security industry.”

The email claimed that the startup had a goal of raising $15 million.

The complaint also alleged that Oberholzer had pitched Petraeus on LinkedIn regarding a potential investment, but the general had “declined to do so.”

“Barend Oberholzer attempted to use the reputation of a retired, four-star Army General in order to solicit investments in his start-up company and a device he developed that purportedly could detect concealed weapons,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement on the guilty plea.

“Instead of attracting investors honestly, Oberholzer lied continuously to make his company more appealing to investors,” Williams added. “Fortunately, law enforcement was able to detect the defendant’s lies, and he is now facing substantial time in prison.”

Reached by The Post on Wednesday, Oberholzer said he had “no comment” on the guilty plea. Oberholzer also pushed back on Williams’ reference to the retired general.

“I do however want reiterate that I did not plead guilty to the Petraeus count because that was dropped as part of the plea agreement to conspiracy,” Oberholzer said.

Oberholzer faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

The feds said Oberholzer had engaged in a “conspiracy” to land investments “on the basis of fraudulent misrepresentations regarding financial solvency, access to cash, and use of investor funds,” including falsified financial statements.

Authorities linked Oberholzer to the fake emails by tying them to an IP address for his residence in Colorado. Oberholzer logged into the fake email account on multiple occasions from December 2017 to May 2018.

Oberholzer co-founded X.Labs. “Sword” has since been rebranded as “X1” and is still available on the company’s website.  

The Post has reached out to the Southern District of New York for further comment on Oberholzer’s claim.

Oberholzer reportedly had a checkered past even before his guilty plea.

In 2019, the Daily Beast reported that Oberholzer was a “fugitive on the run from fraud charges” in South Africa after fleeing the country despite an open warrant for his arrest. South African prosecutors told the outlet that Oberholzer faced “nearly two dozen charges,” including fraud and forgery.

At the time, Oberholzer claimed he was “an intelligence asset for the US government.”

He also touted work with other intelligence agencies around the world, though he declined to provide proof.

He has a self-published memoir on Amazon called “The Black Market Concierge,” in which he claims to have “reported an array of vital intelligence to the CIA and multiple intelligence agencies across the world.”

Last year, a separate Daily Beast report noted Oberholzer had been sued for fraud by a global freight firm called Unique Logistics.

The story also raised questions about the effectiveness of “Feevr” a now-discontinued, thermal screening security product developed by X.Labs and sold to several schools.

In response to that story, Oberholzer purportedly “produced a document to The Daily Beast indicating he was not guilty of any crimes” in South Africa, though local police did not respond to requests to confirm his claim.

The feds noted this week that Oberholzer’s co-defendant in the case, Jaromy Pittario, the former COO of X.Labs, previously pled guilty in January and is slated to be sentenced in May.

In 2021, the startup told the Daily News that Oberholzer had “voluntarily already stepped aside” from X.Labs “months ago.”

Court filings referred to the individual who Oberholzer impersonated as a “retired, four-star General in the United States Army, or as “Retired-General-1.”

The papers also said that the general was “currently employed by a private equity investment firm based in New York, New York.”

Petraeus, 70, is a longtime executive at KKR, where he is a partner and chairman of the KKR Global Institute.

Representatives for X.Labs did not immediately return a request for comment. KKR declined to comment.

Petraeus is also a former CIA director who resigned in 2012 following revelations that he had an extramarital affair with his biographer.