WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — Tarsem Singh, a 61-year-old Indian-American businessman has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for his role in conspiring to illegally obtain more than $6 million meant for small and disadvantaged businesses in the U.S.
Singh, from Fairfax, Virginia, pled guilty to the charges last December in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by Judge B Walton, who also ordered Singh to pay a fine of $250,000 and over $1 million in restitution. After completion of his prison term, Singh will additionally be placed on three years of supervised probation and be required to perform community service.
He was sentenced Tuesday to the 15-month term, for fraudulent activities that involved the U.S. Small Business Administration’s program, a program which seeks to help small, disadvantaged businesses compete in the American economy and access the federal procurement market.
According to court records, from a period stretching Jan. 2000 through 2009, Singh, and his wife, through a firm described by government prosecutors as “Company A,” which specialized in construction and renovating and altering buildings, obtained millions in federal contracts. Shortly after his second company, referred to as “Company B,” was certified, Singh named himself vice president. Serving under the title, Singh was contacted by government personnel about federal contracts and, in some circumstances, made the decision on whether the company would bid on these projects.
Throughout the life of these contracts, “Company B” had only one employee who performed the work on projects it was awarded. Singh used a combination of “Company A” personnel and sub-contractors to staff projects awarded to “Company B.”
From August 2009 through December 2010, “Company B” obtained a total of USD 6,808,552 in more than 25 federal contracts in this manner from the General Services Administration. The scheme generated at least USD 90,397 in profits for “Company A”. In addition, Singh received at least USD 28,768 in compensation attributable to the contracts.
