Freight services company owner faces fraud charges

The owner of a U.S.-based online freight services company specializing in international transportation has been arrested on suspicion of orchestrating an investment scheme, according to prosecutors.

Kamlesh Pardasani, 49, appeared in federal court in North Carolina on Jan. 7 on charges of defrauding at least five investors of more than $800,000. A June 2018 indictment against Pardasani was unsealed in November 2019 after he was arrested at Philadelphia International Airport upon entering the U.S. from India, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

The alleged scheme involving Pardasani’s company, FreightGuru.com LLC, took place from August 2016 to June 2017. Pardasani “falsely represented that he would use the investors’ money to fund a specific shipment of goods, and that, once the shipment cleared, the victims’ return rate on their initial investment would be between 15% and 20%,” according to prosecutors.

The indictment also alleges that Pardasani lied to victims by “falsely assuring them that their funds were secure and safe, when in fact he used the victims’ money to fund his lifestyle, pay off personal creditors, and to engage in high-risk securities trading in his personal trading account.” After failing to invest the funds as promised, Pardasani continued to make false promises “to lull victims and provide excuses for failing to return the victims’ money.”