ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — A well-known Bollywood promoter and film producer from northern Virginia was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday for one of the largest bank fraud scams in the state's history.
Vijay K. Taneja, 48, of Fairfax, Virginia, was also ordered to pay $33 million in restitution to the four banks he swindled in a complicated mortgage fraud scheme.
Taneja pleaded guilty in November in US District Court in Alexandria to conspiracy to commit money laundering.
While US District Court Judge Claude Hilton could have imposed a higher sentence, he accepted the recommended .
Prosecutor Stephen Learned said Taneja's fraud — in which four banks lost a combined $33 million — was the largest bank fraud scheme prosecuted at the courthouse in at least 20 years.
"It's a very significant sentence," Learned said of the seven years.
Taneja owned his own mortgage loan business since 1990, focusing on the South Asian community. He was better known in northern Virginia's large Indian community, though, as a concert promoter and producer of Bollywood films. He also donated large amounts to Hindu temples in the region. read more...
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