A Biden-era federal prosecutor faces a criminal referral to DOJ over allegations she misled FBI agents about her role in a fraud probe.
Fox News Digital reported that a lawyer retained by tech founder Abraham Shafi sent a criminal investigation referral to the Justice Department on Tuesday, asking federal authorities to examine whether former senior prosecutor Jina Choi made false statements to the FBI about her involvement in the case.
Choi joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California in late 2023 and was tapped to lead the Corporate and Securities Fraud Section. Before that, she had represented IRL, the social-media startup Shafi co-founded, as outside counsel. Prosecutors said she was screened off the federal investigation involving IRL and Shafi because of that prior work.
Shafi’s side now argues the wall did not hold, and that her later account to agents does not match internal records.
The referral turns on an FBI interview of Choi in July. Agents questioned her about her role in the IRL investigation. Per the referral and defense account, she said she did “not have any kind of role in the investigation” and was not aware “who was assigned to the case team.”
Defense materials point the other way. An internal message purportedly obtained by the defense quotes Choi saying she spoke with her predecessor and “wanted to see if it would be ok to add [him] to the IRL team to help move it along.” The criminal referral also states Choi “admitted keeping a written case tracker on which ‘the SHAFI investigation was listed.’”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, per the defense claim, called that tracker “privileged and internal work product” and refused to turn it over. Underlying email exhibits were filed under seal or as sealed exhibit slip sheets. The public cannot independently inspect the full originals from the available reporting.
Choi did not respond to a request for comment. As of publishing, she has not been charged with any crime or disciplined for professional misconduct tied to the Shafi prosecution. No judge has ruled that a conflict of interest warrants dismissal of the case.
IRL shut down in 2023 after a board-directed investigation concluded that 95% of its users were likely bots, a finding Shafi disputed. The federal investigation into the company predated Choi’s arrival at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Shafi was later indicted in 2025 on federal fraud and obstruction charges. He was charged with wire fraud, securities fraud, and obstruction a few months after Choi left the office. Prosecutors alleged he misled investors by misrepresenting user growth, used paid advertising then passed growth off as organic while raising about $170 million, and misused investor money on clothing, home furnishings, travel, hotels, and wedding-related costs.
Biden-appointed U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey had placed Choi in charge of the Corporate and Securities Fraud Section shortly after she joined. The office handles major corporate and securities cases across the Bay Area, including Silicon Valley.
Shafi’s defense has a clear stake in proving improper conduct by Choi. The lawyer who sent the referral argues that alleged false statements, paired with her prior representation of IRL, taint the charges. In a motion to dismiss, the defense also alleged she tried to get federal authorities to target Shafi to shield other stakeholders. The government denied that characterization and acknowledged she advocated that the firm itself not be targeted.
Cully Stimson, a former federal prosecutor and acting director of the Heritage Foundation’s Legal Policy Center, told Fox News Digital that defense teams often attack prosecutors, but a criminal investigation referral is rare.
Stimson said the defense’s allegations are troubling if true, “because if their allegations end up being true, there was spillage.”
"And that would mean some other members of that office are therefore conflicted, and it could result in the entire office being conflicted if a judge found that the taint was so bad that it permeated the whole office."
He also noted that individual U.S. Attorneys’ Offices generally operate with significant independence on casework and cautioned against pinning Choi’s alleged conduct on the Biden administration as a whole.
The Justice Department generally has no obligation to respond to referrals like this. The FBI declined to comment when reached for the Fox News Digital report.
What remains on the record is straightforward. A prosecutor who once represented the company later joined the office prosecuting its co-founder. Officials said she was walled off. Defense filings and the referral claim internal messages, a case tracker listing the Shafi investigation, and an FBI interview in which she denied any role. Those claims are now before DOJ as a request for a criminal look at whether she misled federal agents.
Accountability for federal prosecutors is not optional theater. When screening rules, interview answers, and internal records are in dispute, the public deserves a clean process, not a shrug and a sealed exhibit.
