Home Buffalo Press Releases 2009 Honeoye Falls Man Indicted on Fraud and Money Laundering Charges
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Honeoye Falls Man Indicted on Fraud and Money Laundering Charges

U.S. Attorney’s Office December 17, 2009
  • Western District of New York (716) 843-5700

ROCHESTER, NY—A federal grand jury in Rochester has returned a 16-count indictment charging ASHVIN J. ZAVERI , 71, of Honeoye Falls, New York, with violations of the federal mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering statutes, announced U.S. Attorney Kathleen M. Mehltretter of the Western District of New York. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a fine of $500,000, or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley E. Tyler stated that the Indictment alleges that the defendant between April 2003 and March 2009, perpetrated a Ponzi scheme to defraud investors who had invested approximately $35,000,000 in oil and natural gas exploration partnerships through his company Zaveri Oil & Gas, Ltd. During the course of the scheme, the defendant used the mail and wire communications to facilitate the execution of the fraud, as well, using the illegally obtained investor proceeds to promote the scheme, in violation of the federal money laundering provisions.

The Indictment was the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent -In-Charge James Robertson and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Special Agent-In-Charge Patricia Haynes. The evidence was presented to the Grand Jury by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley E. Tyler, who will handle the trial of the case.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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