The founder and CEO of job-seeking platform WrkRiot pleaded guilty Monday to defrauding several employees of the now-defunct Silicon Valley technology startup company, the US Department of Justice announced.

Isaac Choi — who also went by four other names — pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud before US District Judge Edward Davila of the Northern District of California. 

As part of his guilty plea, Choi admitted that while attempting to recruit potential employees, he made false and misleading statements about various topics, including his educational and professional history, and the amount of his wealth, according to the Department of Justice. Choi admitted in his plea that, in truth, he never attended any business school, that he was never employed in any capacity by any financial institution, and that he exaggerated his wealth, according to the department.

The defendant further admitted that in August 2016, while at WrkRiot’s office in Santa Clara, he emailed several of his employees fake wire transfer confirmation documents purporting to reflect their salary payments for the purpose of convincing his employees to continue working for his privately failing company, according to the department.

The Silicon Valley Business Journal reported a former employee of Choi, Penny Kim, first publicized the scam in an August 2016 blog post on Medium.

Pursuant to the plea agreement, Choi pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and the other charges were dismissed, The Mercury News reported. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 24 before Judge Davila.