A person from India has admitted to defrauding a bank of $17 million.

April 18 :
Former employee of a marble and granite wholesaler based in New Jersey, Nitin Vats, an Indian native, pled guilty on April 17 to participating in a scheme to defraud a bank in relation to a US$17 million secured line of credit, according to US Attorney Philip R. Sellinger. The company has since gone bankrupt.

According to the Department of Justice, 52-year-old Nitin Vats entered a guilty plea before US District Judge Susan D. Wigenton on count one of an indictment that accused him of conspiring to conduct wire fraud that affected a financial institution. This means that he might spend up to 30 years behind bars and pay a fine of up to $1 million USD. Sept 11, 2024 is when the sentencing is expected to take place.

Documents show that Vats and other employees and owners of Lotus Exim International Inc. (LEI) plotted to fraudulently obtain a US$17 million line of credit from the victim bank between March 2016 and March 2018.

Since the victim bank thought LEI's accounts receivable may serve as security, it granted a line of credit to LEI. A number of the accounts receivable were actually exaggerated and made up by the conspirators, which caused LEI to default on the line of credit.

According to federal authorities, in order to hide the fact that LEI did not have enough collateral, Vats made up email addresses for LEI clients and had other workers use them to respond to questions from the victim bank and an outside auditor regarding the accounts receivable.

The plan included a large number of fictitious accounts receivable with exaggerated or completely made-up outstanding balances. According to the Department of Justice, the victim banks lost almost $17 million due to the fraud.