\t\t\t\tA district court judge has sentenced Navin Shankar Subramaniam Xavier, formerly the CEO of Essex Holdings Inc., to 15 years behind bars because of his involvement in two fraud scams. Xavier pleaded guilty to two wire fraud counts in January.<\/p>\n
He ran Essex Holdings from 9\/2010 through 5\/2014, raising over $30M from almost 100 investors who bought promissory notes that were supposedly for investments in shipping, sugar transportation, and iron ore mining in Latin America. Xavier used forged paperwork, including a bogus financial statement. He promised return rates to get prospective customers to participate. He used most of the funds for his and his wife\u2019s expenses, including luxury cars and jewelry, cosmetic surgery, and wedding bills. He also used newer investors\u2019 funds to pay earlier investors until the Ponzi scam failed. According to evidence brought to court, investors lost more than $29M.<\/p>\n
In a separate fraud, Xavier used the company to secure $1.2M in payments and about $1.5M of commercial real estate from the South Carolina Coordinating Council for Economic Development (SCCCED). These were supposed to go toward developing an industrial property into a rice packaging facility and a diaper plant. Documents submitted in court indicate that the defendant gave the SCCCED fake financial documentation so the contract would go to him. He also provided other fake financial paperwork, including bogus contractor invoices, so he would get paid. He again used a chunk of the funds for his own living expenses.<\/p>\n