Man Suspected of Defrauding Multiple Investors in Google Stock Scheme Arrested at San Francisco Airport Last Month and Appeared in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana Today

An Orange County man who was arrested in San Francisco last month was ordered transferred to Santa Ana to face prosecution for allegedly operating a multi-million investment scheme in Orange County, announced Steven M. Martinez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles, and George S. Cardona, Acting United States Attorney for the Central District of Los Angeles.

Tarakeswar “Tarak” Chaudhary, 49, of Tustin, California, was arrested on December 5, 2009 at the San Francisco International Airport. Chaudhary was removed from an Emirates Airlines flight bound overseas at the time of his arrest.

Chaudhary, who was doing business as Transpacific Intertrade Inc, was charged in a criminal complaint filed on December 7, 2009 in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana with mail fraud, a violation of Title 18 U.S.C., Section 1341. According to the complaint, Chaudhary defrauded victims by promising to invest their money in initial public offerings and secondary share offerings by companies such as Google, Inc., when in fact, no such investments were made. The complaint identifies four victims that are believed to have provided over $3 million to Chaudhary.

According to the complaint, Chaudhary allegedly mailed forged statements on Morgan Stanley letterhead to at least one victim from whom Chaudhary obtained $1 million. The forged statement indicated that stock purchases had been made through a Morgan Stanley account, when in fact, no such account existed. Chaudhary allegedly fabricated the identity of a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley to legitimize the purported investment. According to the complaint, investigators believe that the bogus statement is consistent with the “lulling” activity that individuals engaged in fraud use in order to placate victims and to make victims believe their investments are safe.

The complaint alleges that Chaudhary told at least one victim that his investment of $995,000 was gone and that he had also defrauded at least 20 people out of a total of $10 million or more. Further, Chaudhary recently admitted to another victim that he was running a Ponzi scheme and that he had not invested any of the victims’ money.

Chaudhary made an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on Monday, December 7, 2009 and was ordered removed to the Central District of California on Friday, December 11, 2009. Chaudhary waived an identity hearing and was ordered removed to Santa Ana to face prosecution. Chaudhary was transferred to southen California by the United States Marshals Service, and was in court this afternoon.

This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office and will be prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office in Santa Ana.

The San Francisco Airport Police and agents with the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office participated in the arrest of Chaudhary in San Francisco.

A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in court.