Close X
Sunday, December 15, 2024
ADVT 
International

Indian-Origin Man Pleads Guilty For Taking $2.5 Million In Bribes In US

IANS, 07 Aug, 2018 01:06 PM
    An Indian-origin man has pleaded guilty to taking $2.5 million in bribes and kickbacks from companies seeking contracts to work on energy saving projects in the US government buildings.
     
     
    Bhaskar Patel, 67, of Windermere, Florida, received the bribes and kickbacks when he served as a senior project manager for Schneider Electric Building Americas, based in Andover, Massachusetts.
     
     
    He was responsible for obtaining bids from subcontractors and recommending for selection the subcontractors that would be awarded a contract under an energy saving project.
     
     
    The payments were associated with federal energy savings performance contracts issued to Schneider Electric by various federal agencies from June 6, 2011, to April 19, 2016.
     
     
    He pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Rutland to two felony charges, each carrying maximum penalties of 10 years in prison. He remains free on his personal recognizance pending a December 7 sentencing hearing.
     
     
    Judge Geoffrey Crawford said federal probation officials would conduct a pre-sentence investigation before he formally hands down a sentence for Bhaskar Patel.
     
     
    As part of a plea agreement, federal prosecutors filed a notice of forfeiture totalling $2,536,119 from Bhaskar Patel, VT Digger, a Vermont news portal, reported.
     
     
    The plea agreement states that prosecutors have agreed to reduce the forfeiture amount to $1.75 million if Patel pays $950,000 on or before his sentencing.
     
     
    He also faces fines of up to $5,072,238.38, or twice his ill-gotten gains.
     
     
    Among the items federal prosecutors are seeking to seize as part of the forfeiture are his property in Windermere; a 2012 Mercedes-Benz E Class E350 vehicle; a watch; six rings; 43 earrings; 10 bracelets; 18 bangles; six pendants, USD 35,700 in Indian rupees and a timeshare property in Hilton Head, South Carolina, the portal reported.
     
     
    Assistant US Attorney Abigail Averbach, a prosecutor in the case, said charges against other individuals involved in the case are possible, though she declined to say who those people might be.
     
     
    Court records do indicate that in some cases Patel directed those paying him to write checks to his adult son and daughter. His children are only identified in court papers as "JP" and "FP".
     
     
    David Smith, a spokesman for Schneider Electric, said after the hearing that Mr Bhaskar Patel was terminated as soon as the allegations of wrongdoing came to light.
     
     
    Mr Bhaskar's scheme came to light when law enforcement received information that he had altered and falsified a bid document submitted to Schneider Electric by a Vermont subcontractor bidding for work on an energy savings project at the White River Junction VA facility, according to court records.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    26-Yr-Old Telangana Student Sharath Koppu Shot Dead In US

    26-Yr-Old Telangana Student Sharath Koppu Shot Dead In US
    A 26-year-old Indian student from Telangana was shot dead inside a restaurant here in the US state of Missouri by a suspected robber.

    26-Yr-Old Telangana Student Sharath Koppu Shot Dead In US

    Sushma Swaraj's Intervention Ends 'Status Quo' For Aggrieved Woman In Canada

    The Minister responded to a tweet by the RPO Delhi that said "Status quo" on Friday when the woman demanded to know about the progress of her request made in February 2018. 

    Sushma Swaraj's Intervention Ends 'Status Quo' For Aggrieved Woman In Canada

    Hindu Woman Sunita Parmar Contests Election In Pakistan, Creates History

    Hindu Woman Sunita Parmar Contests Election In Pakistan, Creates History
    Sunita Parmar said she was compelled to contest the upcoming polls as previous governments failed to deliver on their promises of making life better for the people of her constituency.

    Hindu Woman Sunita Parmar Contests Election In Pakistan, Creates History

    Indian-Origin Finance Consultant Jailed For Raping 18-Year-Old In London

    Indian-Origin Finance Consultant Jailed For Raping 18-Year-Old In London
    The 28-year-old was found guilty of carrying the woman over his shoulder after she was denied entry into a nightclub in central London for being drunk and raping her in an alleyway.

    Indian-Origin Finance Consultant Jailed For Raping 18-Year-Old In London

    Indian Family In UAE Without Passports, Visa, Say ‘Living Like Prisoners’

    Indian Family In UAE Without Passports, Visa, Say ‘Living Like Prisoners’
    The family, three of whom do not have passports and visas, said that they do not even have enough to eat and there are days when they have to survive on a packet of quboos (Arabic bread).

    Indian Family In UAE Without Passports, Visa, Say ‘Living Like Prisoners’

    Indian-Origin Woman Singapore Jailed For Role In US Navy Corruption Cases

    Indian-Origin Woman Singapore Jailed For Role In US Navy Corruption Cases
    Gursharan Kaur Sharon Rachael, had received more than SGD130, 000 in bribes from Leonard Glenn Francis, the Malaysian CEO of maritime services company Glenn Defense Marine (Asia) (GDMA), in exchange for sensitive US Navy information

    Indian-Origin Woman Singapore Jailed For Role In US Navy Corruption Cases