A couple once respected as local celebrities in their community is now charged with running an extensive web of scams that defrauded up to 100 victims of over $4 million.
Bollywood singers and socialites Sidhartha “Sammy” Mukherjee and his wife Sunita were arrested in June by federal investigators for first-degree felony theft, CBS reports.
Said an alleged victim of the Mukherjees,
“They will make you believe that they are very successful businesspeople… But they will take every single penny you have.”
The alleged victims say the Mukherjees convinced them to invest in supposedly legitimate real estate deals that were supposed to bring high returns.
Ultimately, though, dividend checks from the Mukherjees started to bounce, and many or most of the projects turned out not to even exist.
One couple approached seasoned white-collar crime investigator Brian Brennan when they lost $325,000, allegedly to one of the Mukherjees’ schemes.
Says Brennan,
“As I got into the case and dug into it, we realized that this was a lot larger than what initially was reported.”
The Mukherjees had convinced multiple alleged victims to invest in lucrative real estate remodeling projects.
But, as Brennan began unearthing the Mukherjees’ banking records and other documents, the detective discovered that the “permits” that the couple had obtained for their remodeling projects were fraudulent, likely fabricated by Sammy on his home computer.
“…All of the paperwork, receipt and email correspondence were forged… All fake… The level of counterfeit documents … it had to be a full-time job for him to do that.”
And the couple’s alleged fraud went beyond real estate, according to investigators.
The Mukherjees also created a fake company with made-up employees to apply for federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.
Feds reportedly asked Sammy Mukherjee if he recognized the names “Richard Jackson,” “Nikki Reynolds” and “Mike Summerville.” Mukherjee said the names didn’t ring a bell despite them being listed on a payroll form that he submitted in his PPP loan application.
Investigators also found that checks had been deposited into the Mukherjees’ bank accounts that came “from defrauding elderly folks [who were] scammed out of monies responding to threatening emails about arrest.”
Says Brennan,
“In [my] 23 years, [Sammy Mukherjee] is probably the most prolific fraudster I’ve seen… Tentacles going in all different directions.”
In Sammy Mukherjee’s hometown of Mumbai, India, there are reportedly outstanding fraud warrants for him.
Unfortunately, Brennan says the alleged victims’ money is likely gone, spent on the Mukherjees’ cars, houses and living expenses.
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