An Indian individual enters a guilty plea for his involvement in a USD 17 million bank fraud in the US
According to US Attorney Philip R. Sellinger, a 52-year-old Indian citizen has entered a guilty plea to taking part in a fraud conspiracy against a US bank pertaining to a USD 17 million secured line of credit.
The Department of Justice (DoJ) announced on Wednesday that Nitin Vats, a former employee of a now-defunct marble and granite wholesaler in New Jersey, entered a guilty plea to one count of an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution before US District Judge Susan D. Wigenton.
Documents state that between March 2016 and March 2018, Vats and other employees of Lotus Exim International Inc. (LEI) planned to deceitfully acquire a USD 17 million line of credit from the victim bank.
The line of credit was given to LEI by the victim’s bank, which thought that LEI’s accounts receivable served as partial security. According to a DoJ news statement, the conspirators had, in fact, exaggerated and manipulated several of the accounts receivable, which eventually caused LEI to default on the line of credit.
In order for other LEI workers to pretend to be those customers and respond to the victim bank’s and outside auditor’s questions on the accounts receivable, federal prosecutors said that Vats had established fictitious email addresses on behalf of LEI’s clients in order to disguise the absence of adequate collateral.
Many bogus accounts receivable were engaged in the plan, with the outstanding sums being either exaggerated or completely fake. It said that the victim’s bank lost almost USD 17 million as a result of the fraud.
He may be sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in jail and $1 million in fines. September 11 is the day he is expected to be sentenced.
