Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS <\/p>\n
Narsimha Raju Sagiraju, 28, spent about $424,000 on blackjack trips to Las Vegas, Monte Carlo and Dubai that he had told his former Cupertino High School classmates he would invest. <\/p>\n
Narsimha Raju Sagiraju, 28, spent about $424,000 on blackjack trips to Las Vegas, Monte Carlo and Dubai that he had told his former Cupertino High School classmates he would invest. <\/p>\n
Ex-Tech Exec To Be Sentenced To Jail For Gambling $424K Of Friends' Investments <\/p>\n
CUPERTINO (BCN) <\/p>\n
A former tech executive is set to be sentenced to county jail this afternoon for defrauding his business partner and high school friends out of more than $400,000, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. <\/p>\n
Narsimha Raju Sagiraju, 28, spent about $424,000 on blackjack trips to Las Vegas, Monte Carlo and Dubai that he had told his former Cupertino High School classmates he would invest. <\/p>\n
Sagiraju pleaded no contest to three felony counts of securities fraud and three felony counts of grand theft, Deputy District Attorney Erica Engin said. <\/p>\n
The former software startup director also admitted to excessive taking and white-collar crime enhancements. <\/p>\n
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Shelyna Brown is set to decide at 1:30 p.m. today whether to sentence Sagiraju to three or five years in jail for his crimes. <\/p>\n
\"The defendant stole millions of dollars from people who trusted him so that he could live the lavish lifestyle of a Silicon Valley venture capitalist,\" Engin said in a statement. <\/p>\n
\"His crimes have caused his victims to lose substantial amounts of money and trust,\" Engin said. <\/p>\n
While a startup executive in 2012, Sagiraju solicited several former classmates to invest in Genwi, a commercial construction project, and pre-IPO shares of stock in Pinterest and Facebook, prosecutors said. <\/p>\n
Three victims sued Sagiraju in civil court the following year, after he had gambled the money away, and he said he would repay them with interest. <\/p>\n
In November 2014, one victim reported the fraud to the district attorney's office. <\/p>\n
When Sagiraju was arrested upon his arrival in Las Vegas in February 2016, he had $155,000 in casino chips, prosecutors said. <\/p>\n
At the time of his arrest in Las Vegas, Sagiraju was working for a new venture capital fund and a real estate investment company. <\/p>\n
A few months later, Sagiraju's business partner at the two companies contacted the district attorney's office to report that the defendant had embezzled almost $2 million in the 10 months leading up to his arrest. <\/p>\n
Prosecutors used the white-collar crime \"Freeze and Seize\" law to take custody of the casino chips and $121,000 in two of Sagiraju's casino accounts in Las Vegas. <\/p>\n
Brown is set to decide how to distribute that money to the victims at a restitution hearing, prosecutors said. <\/p>\n
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Ex-Tech Exec To Be Sentenced To Jail For Gambling $424K Of ... - SFGate<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Narsimha Raju Sagiraju, 28, spent about $424,000 on blackjack trips to Las Vegas, Monte Carlo and Dubai that he had told his former Cupertino High School classmates he would invest. Narsimha Raju Sagiraju, 28, spent about $424,000 on blackjack trips to Las Vegas, Monte Carlo and Dubai that he had told his former Cupertino High School classmates he would invest. Ex-Tech Exec To Be Sentenced To Jail For Gambling $424K Of Friends' Investments CUPERTINO (BCN) A former tech executive is set to be sentenced to county jail this afternoon for defrauding his business partner and high school friends out of more than $400,000, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. Continue reading