Former Technology Company Executives Charged with Defrauding Boston Private Equity Firm of $20 Million

BOSTON – The former Chief Executive Officer and Senior Vice President of Mozaic Payment System, Inc. have been charged with defrauding a Boston-based investment firm out of $20 million in equity funding.

Marcus Cobb, 48, and Rachel Knepp, 39, both of Nashville, Tenn., have been charged with wire fraud conspiracy. Cobb was indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston on Nov. 20, 2025 and was arrested on Dec. 8, 2025 in Chicago. He will appear in federal court in Boston on Jan. 8, 2026. Knepp was previously charged by an Information and, on Nov. 19, 2025, pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 19, 2026.

According to the charging documents, Mozaic Payment System was a technology company that purported to have an application that processed royalty payments for performers, recording labels and music distributors. Mozaic’s application did not work, however, and generated no revenue. Nevertheless, in the late spring of 2023, Cobb and Knepp allegedly engaged a Boston-based private equity firm to fund the business, which they represented to be growing and profitable. During due diligence by the Boston firm, Cobb and Knepp allegedly fabricated Mozaic bank and financial statements that falsely showed growing revenue and increasing cash on hand. It is alleged that based on these false representations, Cobb and Knepp obtained $20 million in funding from the investment firm in September 2023. Thereafter, to lull the investor, it is alleged that Cobb and Knepp regularly provided additional false financial documents that showed increasing revenue, when, in fact, Mozaic was burning through its cash. By February 2025, the investor discovered the alleged fraud and Mozaic collapsed.

The charge of wire fraud conspiracy provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000, or twice the monetary gain or loss, whichever is more, restitution and forfeiture. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kriss Basil and Elianna Nuzum of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.