india

Updated: Mar 21, 2019 10:51 IST

An Indian-origin businessman has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in federal prison for orchestrating an USD 1.3 million Ponzi scheme that caused losses to more than 40 victims.

According to court documents, Amrit Jaswant Singh Chahal (31) of Fairfax operated an investment fraud scheme through a company established by him. Chahal held out the company as a private capital investment group that sought to earn profits and investment returns on behalf of its clients by purchasing, trading, or otherwise investing in commodities for future delivery and other financial instruments, the documents stated. Chahal executed this fraud through falsely representing that his company had earned returns of roughly 28 to 34 per cent annually, when in fact, Chahal had suffered substantial losses in managing investors’ funds, the court documents said.

The businessman also created falsified brokerage statements to conceal the losses he had sustained and siphoned off some of his investors’ funds by transferring the money to accounts he controlled or by spending the funds on personal items, the documents added. When investors asked for returns on their investment, Chahal frequently used money from newer investors to pay disbursements to older investors, without disclosing this fact to his investors. In addition, Chahal opened an unauthorised bank account in the name of one of his investors to further divert funds to his personal use.