Vincent Thakur Singh, 45, formerly of Elk Grove, California, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and false statements in bankruptcy.
According to court documents, Singh carried out an investment fraud through an entity known as the Perfect Financial Group. He targeted 190 members of the ethnic Indian Fijian community for an investment fraud that grossed approximately $20 million. Singh told investors that he was using their money for hard money lending.
In fact, Singh used $12 million of investors’ money for gambling, made $2 million in currency withdrawals, spent $880,000 on a film project, and spent more than $1 million on other business ventures. Singh also used millions of dollars of investor money to pay other victims and give Perfect Financial the false appearance of success.
According to the plea agreement, on August 19, 2010, Singh declared bankruptcy and failed to disclose 19 of the bank accounts that he had used in the investment fraud.
Singh is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Morrison C. England Jr. on June 12, 2014. Singh faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison for wire fraud and five years in prison for false statements in bankruptcy. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced the guilty plea.
This case is the product of an investigation by the FBI with assistance from the office of the U.S. Trustee. Assistant United States Attorney Matthew D. Segal is prosecuting the case.
The FBI has done its job well in identifying the accused.