UPDATE: On Feb. 14, 2020, the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands dismissed the charges against Syed Gilani in this case.

BOSTON, MA — The Women only ride hailing service (think Uber or Lift for just the ladies) hit a roadblock today when news broke that its CEO was arrested last week for defrauding the Virgin Islands government out of more than $2 million. The Boston Globe broke the news that Safr CEO Syed Zain Gilani, 43, was arrested at the company's headquarters on Harrison Avenue in Boston on Friday and agreed to being sent to the Virgin Islands for a trial, the Globe reported. Gilani's lawyer denied any wrong doing.

Safr launched in March in Boston as an alternative to Uber for women amid questions of whether it was legal to exclude men. "Women make up less than 25% of drivers in the ridesharing space and make on average 34% less than men. Women routinely suffer harassment, both as drivers and riders. Female riders also get taken on 5% longer rides by unscrupulous drivers. This is unacceptable, and that's why we started Safr," reads the Safr website.



Gilani's LinkedIn account notes that he was co-host of a popular radio talk show in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Money Talk and More, for more than a year. It also lists him as the CEO of Z-Square Technology, a security technology management systems provider. "In 2011, Syed was honored as one of the 50 Outstanding Asian American Entrepreneurs by the AABDC and featured by the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, leading Virgin Islands' newspapers and acknowledged by the Governor of the Virgin Islands," reads his profile.

Safr did not immediately respond to request for comment. Read the full Boston Globe Story here.