In general, there's no actual fraud. It is not fraud to have a bad or unworkable idea and raise money on the basis that the idea is good (unless you _know_ that it's bad or unworkable). Now, once you know it's unworkable, then you're getting closer to fraud, and once you incorrectly claim that it _does_ work, then you're in fraudsville.

Theranos is a neat example of this; as far as anyone can see, in the early stages, its generally rather unsophisticated principals and employees geniunely seem to have thought what they were trying to build was viable. If, once this became apparent, they'd given up, then investors would have lost a lot of money but there would have been no fraud. Instead, they faked it. _That_ was fraud.

If there's fraud, then prosecute it legally. But I am in no way obligated to feel any sympathy to investors getting fleeced. It's their responsibility to do their own due diligence, and if they're getting taken in for, I am hard pressed to give a shit.

Not for early stage startups.