50-year-old Abhijit “Beej” Das, was arrested last week in connection with a scheme to swindle a business-to-business supply company based in India of millions of dollars, and using client funds for business and personal expenses, including the purchase of a $2.7 million home in Florida.
Abhijit is an Indian-American lawyer who once ran for a seat in the US House of Representatives and has been indicted by a federal jury in Boston for cheating clients of more than $5 million in escrow funds.
Das was indicted on 10 counts of wire fraud. He was on pretrial release for charges of federal Campaign Act violations and making false statements in 2021. Das was the principal manager of a boutique law and advisory firm called Troca Global Advisors with offices in Boston and New York, as per a statement released by Justice Department. At the beginning of 2020, Das started providing legal articulation and escrow services to two twin brothers and their logistical supply company in India that was harmonizing large cargoes of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during the pandemic.
The indictment alleged that Das hindered more than $5 million in escrow funds from his clients’ accounts to other accounts and used the funds for personal expenditures. This comprised payments for his law firm, a vessel owned by one of his hotels, as well as $2.7 million for his Boca Raton home in Florida.
He allegedly influenced his clients to transfer funds to accounts he controlled in multi-step, layered transactions under the guise of legal advice about the risk of potential litigation and provided clients with fraudulent and forged account statements to conceal the scheme.
The charges of wire fraud each provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.