New York: A 44-year-old Indian-origin former CEO of a firm has been convicted of two separate fraud schemes totalling more than USD 30 million and faces up to 40 years in prison.
Shankar Subramaniam Xavier, who also went by the name of Navin Xavier, was the Chief Executive Officer of Essex Holdings.
He was convicted of two separate fraud schemes totalling more than USD 30 million.
The first scheme involved nearly 100 investors who purchased interests in iron ore mining in Chile while the second scheme involved unlawfully obtaining economic development funds from the state of South Carolina.
Xavier had entered a guilty plea last week before US District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami to two counts of wire fraud.
He faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison for each count and a fine up to USD 250,000 when he is sentenced in March.
According to documents filed in court, from September 2010 through May 2014, Xavier raised more than USD 29 million from nearly 100 investors for supposed investments in sugar transportation and shipping, as well as iron ore mining in Chile.
Xavier used a false financial statement, forged documents, and false promises of fixed rates of return, to induce investors to invest with his company.
He used most of the money on his lavish lifestyle, buying expensive jewellery, luxury vehicles for his wife and on wedding expenses, cosmetic surgery.
The second scheme involved Xavier using Essex Holdings to obtain USD 1.2 million in payments and approximately USD 1.5 million worth of commercial real estate from the South Carolina Coordinating Council for Economic Development, a division of the South Carolina state government, that was supposed to be used to develop a dilapidated industrial property into a diaper plant and rice packaging facility.
Xavier provided false financial documentation to South Carolina Coordinating Council for Economic Development (SCCCED) in order to obtain the contract and later provided fake contractor invoices and fake bank statements in order to get paid under the contract.
