NEW YORK: Seven Indian-Americans are among eight individuals charged with paying over $2.3 million in bribes and kickback to executives of a medical cost management company to secure business from it.
Those who were charged with paying the bribes are Sarvesh Dharayan, Sanjay Gupta, Venkata Atluri, Rangarajan Kumar, Vadan Kumar Kopalle and Dareen Siriani. The defendants charged with receiving the bribes and kickbacks are Anil Singh and Keith Bush.
If convicted, the accused may face a jail term up to 20 years.
“Today’s actions underscore our commitment to work with our law enforcement partners to bring to justice individuals who break the law out of greed,” Preet Bharara, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York said after filing the charges.
Singh was the senior vice president and the Chief Information Officer at the New York Company, which provided nationwide medical cost management solutions, including medical reimbursement services and Bush was employed as the company’s director of database administration.
Singh and Bush had considerable influence over the selection of vendors, specifically vendors of database administrators hired by the New York company.
It has been alleged that from 2008 to September 2012, various individuals collectively paid over $2.3 million in money and other benefits to Singh and Bush to steer millions of dollars of the New York Company’s DBA business to them.
According to the complaint, Dharayan, Gupta, Atluri, Kumar and Kopalle paid the kickbacks and bribes through conduit companies established by Bush and Singh for the very purpose of disguising the true nature and origin of the illegal payments.
Dharayan, Gupta, Koppalle and Siriani were arrested at their homes in New Jersey and were presented in Manhattan federal court yesterday before US magistrate judge James L Cott.
Singh plead guilty to honest services fraud and other charges before US district judge Denise L Cote on July 11.
Bush, who was also arrested previously on July 12, is scheduled to appear in court on August 15. Atluri and Kumar are not in custody yet.
Dharayan, Gupta, Atluri, Kumar, Kopalle, and Siriani were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison and one count of conspiracy to violate the Travel Act, which carries a maximum term of five years in prison.
They were also charged with one count of honest services fraud, which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison, and one count of violating the Travel Act, which carries a maximum term of five years in prison.
Dharayan, Gupta, Atluri, Kumar and Kopalle were also charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison.
