SAN JOSE— A federal jury convicted Sanjiv Kakkar of wire fraud and making misstatements to a bank announced U.S. Attorney Brian J. Stretch and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent in Charge Jill Snyder. The verdict, issued late yesterday, followed a twelve-day trial before the Honorable Edward J. Davila, U.S. District Judge.
The evidence presented at trial demonstrated that Kakkar, 55, of Saratoga, presented false information to a bank in connection with refinancing a hotel property he owned in Boulder Creek, Calif. In November of 2008, Kakkar sought to secure a $6 million loan to refinance the Brookdale Inn and Spa. In connection with the loan, he submitted to a bank falsified income information and tax returns that overstated his business income. Further, in the months that followed, Kakkar did not comply with his continuing obligation under the terms of the loan to provide the bank with updated financial records and further tax documents. In addition, the evidence at trial demonstrated that between January and June 2009, Kakkar fraudulently induced an escrow company to send hundreds of thousands of dollars to him in connection with construction costs. About $1.5 million of the loan Kakkar secured with the bank was earmarked for construction on the property. The bank retained an escrow company to disburse portions of the loan when reimbursement for construction costs was appropriate. Kakker submitted false and fraudulent documents to induce the escrow company to wire six progress payments totaling $509,875.
A grand jury issued a superseding indictment against Kakkar on June 2, 2016, charging him with one count of making misstatements to a bank, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014, and six counts of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343. Kakkar was found guilty of all the charges presented in the superseding indictment.
Kakkar is scheduled to appear before Judge Davila on February 13, 2016, for sentencing. The maximum statutory penalty for making misstatements to a bank is 30 years’ imprisonment, a $1 million fine, and five years of supervised release. The maximum statutory penalty for each count of wire fraud is 20 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and 5 years of supervised release. However, any sentence would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amie Rooney and Maia Perez are prosecuting the case with assistance from Nina Burney and Elise Etter. The case is the result of an investigation by the ATF.