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Guyanese woman on the run, father arrested in US scam that bilked immigrants

Jun 14, 2012 News

 

Connecticut, US (courant.com) – Federal tax agents on Tuesday accused a father and daughter from Wethersfield of using a far-fetched and phony debt-elimination scam to steal thousands of dollars from new U.S. immigrants living in Connecticut and elsewhere.
Because of the scam, through which Deowraj Buddhu and his daughter, Sunita, collected thousands of dollars in fees from so-called clients, several of the clients were persuaded that they no longer had to make mortgage payments and ultimately lost their homes through foreclosure.
The Buddhus are accused of claiming that they could help clients tap a secret government fund created to help homeowners pay mortgages and other debts. The fund was a fiction. But federal tax agents said that, beginning in 2009, the Buddhus convinced immigrants with little education or familiarity with financial instruments that the federal government was providing money for its citizens to pay bills.
The debt-elimination racket is not the first time the Buddhus have attracted the federal government’s attention in connection with an allegedly phony financial scheme. In 2009, as the result of a civil action by the Justice Department, a federal judge permanently barred the father and daughter from operating a tax preparation business.
In the 2009 case, then-U.S. District Judge Christopher F. Droney found that the father and daughter had prepared thousands of false and fraudulent tax returns from 2004 to 2008, substantially understating the tax liabilities of their clients.
As a result of the tax business, the tax clients, also relatively new immigrants, were left responsible for interest and penalties in addition to their federal tax obligations.
U.S. Attorney David B. Fein said Tuesday that the IRS has arrested Deowraj Buddhu, 69, on mail fraud and conspiracy charges. Fein said that Sunita Buddhu has apparently fled and is being sought by federal authorities.
A government affidavit filed in court said that Deowraj Buddhu is a citizen of Guyana and is the subject of a federal deportation order. The same affidavit said Sunita Buddhu had reservations on a flight Tuesday from New York to Guyana. Federal authorities would not discuss her whereabouts.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office did not provide information about how many people the government claims were victims of the debt-elimination scheme and how much money was lost.
The affidavit, prepared by the IRS, said multiple victims lost homes in foreclosure after paying thousands of dollars in fees to the Buddhus for the purported elimination of their mortgages. The IRS said the victims were in Connecticut, Wisconsin, Florida and elsewhere.
The two Buddhus are accused of beginning to recruit debt-elimination clients in the Hartford area in February 2009.
Federal prosecutors said victims were instructed to stop making mortgage payments. The victims were next provided with supposed promissory notes that could be sent in satisfaction of debts to banks and other lenders.
The Buddhus are accused of charging up to tens of thousands of dollars in fees for the notes, for purported notarization of documents and for other useless services.
Deowraj Buddhu was being held in custody following his arrest. If convicted of mail fraud and conspiracy, he faces as much as 30 years in prison.

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