Indian-origin start-up executives convicted by US court for fraud
New York: A US federal jury has convicted two executives of Indian origin who worked for a Chicago-based start-up of running a fraudulent scheme worth $1 billion, media reported.
The scheme targeted the company's clients, lenders, and investors, said a report in the media.
After a 10-week-long trial, the court pronounced the founders and a top official of the health technology company guilty.
Following the conviction, Outcome Health co-founder and former CEO Rishi Shah, co-founder and former president Shradha Agarwal and former chief operating officer Brad Purdy face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison for each count of bank fraud and 20-year imprisonment for each count of wire fraud and mail fraud, said the report.
According to the report, a spokesperson for Shah said in a statement: “Today's verdict deeply saddens Mr. Shah, and he will exhaust every avenue to overturn this result”.
Theodore Poulos, an attorney for Purdy said in a statement: “We are profoundly disappointed with the jury's verdict in this complex and nuanced case, particularly given the plethora of evidence adduced at trial, which showed that certain critical information was intentionally withheld from Brad Purdy."
Three former employees of Outcome, including Ashik Desai, Kathryn Choi, and Oliver Han, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud prior to the trial, stated the report.
Desai, the former chief growth officer, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. Choi, a former senior analyst, and Han, a former analyst, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. They will be sentenced at a later date.