A former Siemens CEO thought he was investing $2.5 million in Deepak Chopra’s app. Prosecutors say it was fraud.

Federal prosecutors say Klaus Kleinfeld was defrauded of nearly $2 million.

Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images Prosecutors say a startup co-founder bilked former Siemens CEO Klaus Kleinfeld of nearly $2 million.

Kleinfeld thought he was investing in Deepak Chopra's wellness and meditation app.

Chopra's company, Chopra Global, no longer has any relationship with the startup, his lawyer said.

In 2023, a wellness entrepreneur pitched Klaus Kleinfeld, the former CEO of Siemens and Alcoa, on an opportunity to invest in Deepak Chopra's meditation app.

Kleinfeld invested $2.5 million.

Now federal prosecutors say the entrepreneur, Wanja Oberhof, embezzled most of that money, using it for personal expenses including back rent on his nearly $20,000-per-month Manhattan penthouse.

In the criminal complaint against Oberhof filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the investor is identified as "Victim-1." A spokesperson for Kleinfeld confirmed that he was the investor.

Oberhof co-founded the Healing Company with his wife, Anabel Oelmann, a former model and owner of a CBD oil company, with the aim of acquiring a stable of wellness brands.

Chopra, the author, physician, and wellness guru , became the Healing Company's chief scientific advisor in 2022.

The startup in March 2023 struck a deal with Chopra's company, Chopra Global, to acquire Chopra's consumer product line, including a detox kit and body oils; the Chopra meditation and wellbeing app; and licensed Chopra health retreats at resorts and spas, corporate filings show.

Chopra Global terminated its deal with the Healing Company in July 2024, and no longer has any relationship with the Healing Company or its affiliates, an attorney for Chopra and his company told Business Insider.

Deepak Chopra's company ended its deal with the Healing Company in 2024.

Dave Benett/Getty Images for Compassionate Films According to the criminal complaint, the Healing Company borrowed about $1.6 million against its line of credit for a March 2023 deal with an author and alternative medicine advocate.