New Jersey lawyer accused of Ponzi crimes fled US to hide in Guyana - prosecutors

New Jersey lawyer accused of Ponzi crimes fled US to hide in Guyana – prosecutors

Nov 21, 2020 News

In trouble: Chander Singh

Kaieteur News – New Jersey (North Jersey) – Prosecutors said a former Teaneck attorney planned to escape prosecution for running a multi-million-dollar real estate Ponzi scheme in North Jersey by starting a new life in South America, but was arrested last week before he could flee the country.
Chander Singh, who faces charges of money laundering, theft by deception and forgery, lived abroad for most of 2020 in Trinidad and Guyana on the advice of his family, who counseled that he either repay some 30 investors $4.7 million or avoid certain jail time by disappearing, according to the state.
The alleged gambit was enough for prosecutors to declare him a flight risk during a virtual court hearing on Wednesday, and requested that he remain in Bergen County Jail until his case is resolved.
However, due to Singh’s strong roots in the state, a Superior Court judge agreed to set him free provided he hands over his passports.
“He was born here, he grew up here, his parents still live here, he has a child here,” Judge Gary Wilcox said Wednesday. “He certainly has very strong ties to New Jersey.”
Bergen prosecutors said they successfully appealed the judge’s decision following Wednesday’s hearing, and will make further arguments in appellate court to keep Singh behind bars.
Singh, 44, allegedly ran the scheme from 2014 through 2019 by soliciting loans from investors to buy residential properties in Bergen County, promising double-digit returns once the properties were flipped. He founded SC Capitol Investors LLC and enlisted his parents and brother, all of whom work as real estate agents, to help find properties, according to the state.
However, behind the scenes, the venture functioned like a classic Ponzi scheme, Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Torre said Wednesday.
“The bank records show that the funds were not used for these properties at all,” Torre said. “If any investors were getting paid back, they were getting paid back not from their investment but from other victims, who had similarly invested into this scheme.”
Singh attempted to cover his tracks by running the money through a network of banks, often making deposits less than $10,000 to avoid cash transaction reports, Torre said.
In January 2020, Singh left New Jersey and lived with relatives in Trinidad and Guyana, and even made inquiries to become an attorney in the West Indies, according to the state.
Meanwhile, investors in New Jersey complained to the state’s Office of Attorney Ethics that Singh was funneling money in and out of his attorney trust fund while not paying his debts, Torre said. The office officially disbarred him in June 2020.
“This is evidence that the defendant fully intended to remain out of the country,” Torre said. “He was doing this because his Ponzi scheme started to collapse.”
Family allegedly told authorities that Singh returned home in October, but planned to “high-tail” back to Guyana in January 2021. Authorities arrested him in early November at his parents’ home in Emerson.
Sooruj and Savitree Singh, his parents, along with his brother Subhas Singh and their family friend, Chandrika Singh, were all charged with conspiracy-related offenses. They are released from jail, pending their next court date.
On Wednesday, Singh’s attorney disputed that he fled the country to escape criminal charges. Rather, he left because many of his investors were upset at the losses they suffered and paid him house visits to make threats, according to Jason Foy, his attorney. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic struck and disrupted his plans to return home.
“He wasn’t fleeing criminal prosecution, he needed to get away. He was going through some depression and mental health issues,” Foy said.
Singh faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted on all charges. (Email: [email protected] Twitter: @tomnobile)