Tampa Republic

United States District Judge Paul G. Byron has sentenced Nikesh Ajay Patel and his ex-wife, Trisha Patel, for their involvement in a financial scheme defrauding the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other entities. On October 8, 2024, Nikesh Patel received a 27-year federal prison sentence, to be served consecutively with a 25-year term from the Northern District of Illinois. Trisha Patel was sentenced on September 18, 2024, to 51 months in federal prison. Both are required to pay restitution to the USDA and four other financial institutions.

Court documents reveal that Nikesh Patel was charged in 2014 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Illinois for a $179 million fraud scheme. He was arrested and released on bond but continued fraudulent activities against the USDA, netting over $19 million. Planning to flee to Ecuador, he was arrested by FBI agents at Kissimmee airport on January 6, 2018. He was returned to Chicago and sentenced to 25 years in federal prison on June 6, 2018.

On December 18, 2019, a federal grand jury in Orlando indicted Nikesh Patel for stealing $19 million while on pretrial release. On February 28, 2023, he pleaded guilty to all counts: conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud charges, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering counts.

In this case, Nikesh Patel fabricated loan documents using a fictitious identity and applied for USDA guarantees under their Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program. Once approved by USDA, he sold these guarantees to Farmer Mac for $19,342,392. The FBI recovered $11,321,931; Nikesh Patel must pay the remaining restitution amount.

While in custody for the previous case's charges between January 2021 and December 2023, Nikesh recruited Trisha Patel into another scheme involving a commercial pump manufacturer based in Houston. Trisha pretended as a senior company representative claiming business expansion plans in rural Puerto Rico to secure fake loans guaranteed by USDA which were then sold off for $7,446,880; however only recovering $74k along with vehicle assets during investigations conducted later on behalf of authorities leading towards prosecution under respective legal frameworks where both pleaded guilty concerning one count each related specifically towards conspiring wire fraud offenses earlier dated back around May days year prior when charged officially according respective dates listed accordingly thereafter upon finalizing processes judicially further ahead moving forward now onward henceforth likewise so forth eventually concluding thereby closing matter conclusively definitively altogether finally ultimately overall end result outcome achieved reached accomplished attained fulfilled satisfied met completed executed finished done resolved settled finalized determined adjudicated decided 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