The former CFO of a shuttered online sneaker company is set to spend 18 months behind bars for her role in a multimillion-dollar bank fraud scheme.
Michael McShane, judge for the U.S. District Court of Oregon, handed down the sentencing to Bethany Mockerman on Tuesday, local newspaper The Oregonian reported. Mockerman, who had served as CFO of shoe seller Zadeh Kicks, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud back in March 2025.
Founded in 2013, Zadeh Kicks was in the business of collecting limited edition and collectible sneakers and then reselling them online. But, in a Jan. 21 sentencing memo, prosecutors said the company was “built in part on a foundation of bank fraud” and that it was “responsible for a massive wire fraud victimizing customers.” Court records said that Michael Malekzadeh, the company’s owner, failed to deliver the shoes he promised to sell, ending up with more than $65 million in undelivered sneakers.
For her part, Mockerman fraudulently obtained over $15 million in bank loans for the business, the sentencing memo said. Prosecutors said that she falsified statements to get the loans.
“Ms. Mockerman had a sophisticated, comprehensive scheme to deceive financial institutions into providing unmerited loans,” prosecutors said in the memo. “Total revenue was tracked and was mostly accurate. However, the cost of inventory, creditor information, and preorders were not reported accurately as expenses.”
As shoe orders went unfilled, Mockerman benefited, according to court documents. Malekzadeh, who was in a romantic relationship with Mockerman, around Christmas of 2020 began purchasing her “extravagant gifts such as luxury handbags and watches.”
“Though Ms. Mockerman did not purchase these luxury items for herself, she was aware that the spending was a result of the fraudulent proceeds brought in by Zadeh Kicks, as she questioned Mr. Malekzadeh on his preorder scheme,” the sentencing memo said. “Ms. Mockerman also received compensation for her role in the financial fraud from the purchase and remodeling of a house. … She knew the money came from Zadeh Kicks, knew that money from the company was tainted by bank fraud, but ultimately, ‘she wanted a fireplace.’”
Mockerman has since agreed to pay back at least $15.9 million in restitution, The Oregonian reported.
In court, Mockerman’s defense attorney had argued for no prison time, arguing that she had already taken the “extraordinary step” of admitting her actions to federal investigators, the newspaper reported. “She doesn’t need to be deterred anymore,” The Oregonian quoted her attorney as saying.
For his part, Malekzadeh was sentenced earlier this month to five years and 10 months in prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, the newspaper reported.
Mockerman and Malekzadeh were first charged in July 2022. Prosecutors charged Malekzadeh with criminal information with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and money laundering, while Mockerman was charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
