Indian American Nikesh Patel given 25 years in prison for carrying out massive fraud, trying to flee to Ecuador
Nikesh Patel was supposed to be living with his parents and helping authorities recover money for victims while he awaited sentencing for a massive $179 million real estate fraud. Instead, the smooth-talking Florida native was still on the take, posing as a bank executive to rip off millions more through sham loans, then blowing the money on lavish ski trips, a pricey Orlando, Fla., home, even a $30,000 birthday bash at a Four Seasons hotel for his 1-year-old daughter, federal prosecutors alleged. But he saved his biggest scam for last. On the day he was to be sentenced in January, Patel was arrested at a Florida airport trying to board a private jet to Ecuador, where prosecutors say he sought political asylum and planned to set up an extravagant new life for himself and his family. It all came to a crashing end Tuesday in a federal courtroom in Chicago as Patel was sentenced to 25 years in prison for one of the most brazen swindles in recent memory, a scam that stretched from Orlan...