Janamjot Singh Sodhi defrauded investors of about $2.3 million.
Bureau Report
SAN FRANCISCO: Former investment banker Janamjot Singh Sodhi has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Fresno, Calijfornia, to four counts of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud investors, reported the Fresno Bee.
Authorities estimate investors lost about $2.3 million. Between 2005 and September 2011, Sodhi – as the owner of Elite Financial Inc.- solicited investments with the promise of high return rates in a relatively short period of time, court documents show.
Instead, Sodhi used the funds to pay returns to other investors and personal expenses for himself and others. He periodically sent investors false financial statements purportedly showing the investments made on their behalf.
When investors requested a return of their investments, Sodhi, 35, repaid some people with funds from newly acquired investors. In other cases, he provided investors with checks that were insufficient, counterfeit or drafted on a closed account.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation which led the investigation, Sodhi, who owned a financial services firm, never disclosed to his investors that the New York Stock Exchange had permanently debarred him and that he was never certified by the California Department of Corporations to operate as an investment adviser in California.
In January 2009, the California Department of Corporations ordered Sodhi to cease and desist from engaging in the business of an investment adviser in California.
Despite his debarment and lack of certification, he continued to hold himself out to clients as a financial adviser who could buy and sell securities on behalf of clients.
Sodhi is scheduled to be sentenced on April 29 before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill.