This is from National Jewelry Magazine online....I wanted to share it...cause only in America......
By Michelle Graff
August 19, 2009
New York--A pastor who hosted a religious cable television show
has been indicted on charges that he defrauded would-be investors out
of several million dollars via a phony jewelry business, the U.S.
Attorney's Office announced on Wednesday.
Samuel
Solanky, also known as "Samee Solanky," faces one count of wire fraud
for allegedly engaging in a scheme that defrauded individuals of $3
million.
According to the seven-page federal indictment, the
62-year-old Solanky was a pastor who hosted the religious cable
television show Vandana, which broadcast in the metropolitan New York City area and elsewhere. He also maintained the Vandana.org Web site and was employed by at least one church to assist in the broadcasting of religious services on cable television.
The Vandana
Web site, which was still up as of Wednesday morning, describes the
show as an "Asian Indian Christian TV Show" that broadcasts not only in
New York City, but in Texas, Pakistan, India and the entire Asian
continent.
Between June 2005 and July 2009, Solanky used the
connections he made through his religious work to find investors for
his non-existent jewelry business using fictitious names including
"Gems of the Bible," "South Asian Gospel Broadcasting," "Blessings and
Love Productions" and "India at our Doorsteps," according to the
indictment.
"Solanky solicited potential investors in part
through the religious organizations he did work for and was involved
with," the indictment states. "Solanky told numerous victims, in both
conversations and written communications, that he would use their
investments to purchase gemstones in India that would be sold to
jewelers in the United States. Solanky promised victims they would
receive 100 percent returns on their investment within a matter of
months and provided many of the victims, often via mail, with written
investment agreements that reflected the promised rate of return."
While
some victims deposited money directly into a bank account controlled by
Solanky, often, the indictment states, victims wired the money into
bank accounts controlled by Solanky, including one $70,000 wire
transfer made in January 2006 from a bank in New Jersey, and another
$20,000 wire transfer from a Connecticut bank in June 2007.
While
victims were dropping tens of thousands of dollars into what they
thought was a legitimate jewelry business, "in fact, and as he well
knew...the defendant did not operate a jewelry business, and the money
obtained from victims was not used to purchase gemstones. Rather, and
as Solanky well knew, the money was diverted to Solanky for his own
use," the indictment states.
The indictment says Solanky
falsified bank documents to convince victims that he would be able to
provide them with returns on their investments.
According to the
U.S. Attorney's Office, if convicted, Solanky faces a maximum of 20
years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain
resulting from the offense, plus the forfeiture of the proceeds of his
crimes.
His arraignment in federal court in White Plains, N.Y., is slated for Aug. 26.
Victims
of Solanky's are being urged to contact Wendy Olsen-Clancy,
victim-witness coordinator at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the
Southern District of New York, by phone at (866) 874-8900 or by e-mail
at Wendy.Olsen@usdoj.gov.
