A 44-year-old former Indian-American CEO has been charged with two separate fraud schemes that sums up to more than $30 million.

Navinv Shankar Subramaniam Xavier, who was the CEO of Essex Holdings  will be facing a maximum of twenty years in prison for each count.

The Justice Department said, “Most of the money was used for purposes other than what was promised, including to support lavish spending by Xavier and his wife for expensive jewelry, luxury vehicles, wedding expenses, and cosmetic surgery.”

It further added that Xavier used the money from the new investors to pay old investors in a Ponzi-like fashion before the scheme collapsed.

Reports said that Xavier operated Essex Holdings from September 2010 to May 2014 and raised more than $29 million from nearly 100 investors for supposed investment in sugar transportation and shipping, as well as iron ore mining in Chile.

In the other scheme Xavier, using Essex Holdings, obtained $1.2 million in payments and approximately $1.5 million worth of commercial real state from the South Carolina Coordinating Council for Economic Development (SCCCED).

Reports said, Xavier provided false documentation to SCCCED in order to obtain the contract, and later provided fake contractor invoices and fake bank statements in order to get paid under the contract.

He will be fined for $250,000 and facing maximum statutory sentence of twenty years in prison for each count.

By Prajakt K.