Would-be Vikings owner indicted

Jace Radke

Thursday, May 31, 2001 | 11 a.m.

A Las Vegas man who gained national attention in 1998 as a result of a failed attempt to buy the NFL's Minnesota Vikings was charged Wednesday with wire and securities fraud as part of a 22-count indictment.

The federal grand jury indictment alleges that Anil Kumar Gupta, Walter Geldenhuys of Denver and Debra Lorraine Caldera of Las Vegas conspired to defraud three victims of $290,000 in a scheme involving historic railroad bonds that Gupta knew to be worthless as securities.

Gupta at one point claimed his wife was worth $5 billion.

None of the defendants have been arrested, but the government is in the process of preparing a summons that will order them to appear before a U.S. Magistrate on a specific date, said Assistant United States Attorney Matt Parrella, who will be prosecuting the case.

The defendants could not be reached for comment on the allegations.

According to the indictment, Gupta fraudulently induced the victims to enter into partnerships to purchase the railroad bonds as he persuaded them into thinking there was a buyer who would pay substantially more for the bonds.

In November 1998, Harold Russell Hill, who has died but is listed as one of Gupta's co-conspirators in the indictment, contacted Louis Richardson. Hill allegedly told Richardson he was looking to buy Deming, Sierra Madre and Pacific Railroad bonds from Gupta for $150,000 each.

Gupta then allegedly contacted Richardson, telling him he could get the bonds Hill wanted for $80,000 each and suggested that he and Richardson put up $80,000 apiece, then sell the bonds to Hill for a total of $300,000.

Gupta allegedly told Richardson the bonds were in Colorado with Geldenhuys. Richardson sent a business associate and an $80,000 cashier's check with Gupta to Colorado to obtain the bonds.

The indictment states that Gupta and Geldenhuys engaged in a sham transaction on Nov. 18 at the Denver airport, where they accepted Richardson's check and gave his representative two worthless railroad bonds.

Hill then allegedly met with Richardson; he said he would buy the bonds for $150,000 each, but Hill never followed through. The day after the meeting at the airport, Gupta and Geldenhuys went to Vectra Bank in Englewood, Colo., deposited Richardson's $80,000 check and purchased cashier's checks for $63,000 and $7,000, according to the indictment.

Gupta allegedly used Richardson again, this time obtaining a $60,000 check for two more bonds. The indictment states that Gupta told Richardson that if he obtained the bonds, Hill would buy all four that had been purchased. Once again Richardson was unable to collect from Hill.

The indictment goes on to state that Gupta ran similar operations with two other victims in May and July of 1999, this time for $75,000 apiece. In each of these schemes Caldera played the part of the supposed buyer, according to the indictment.

The indictment also charges Gupta, Geldenhuys and Caldera with inducing interstate travel for purposes of fraud.

Jim Belmont, president of Southwestern Financial Services, who supplied Gupta and his wife Shruti Misra with a $177,664 loan to build a house, said he wasn't surprised that Gupta has been charged with fraud.

"People like Gupta have just enough polish to take older people or people with new money that still have that greed factor," he said.

Gupta never made a payment to Southwestern, and 14 months later Belmont's company foreclosed on the property. Belmont and his investors lost $30,000 when Gupta filed for bankruptcy in 1997.

On Feb. 2 Gupta filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy again to avoid being evicted from his home. Chapter 7 bankruptcy typically involves the liquidation of a debtor's assets.

In 1998 Gupta boasted that Misra had more than $5 billion in precious metals, land and other assets. When the Las Vegas Sun reported that there were no Las Vegas warehouses capable of storing the $2.4 billion in gold, silver and platinum the couple claimed to own, Gupta said he had "transformed" the metals into rhodium and osmium, which would require a smaller storage space.

The couple then made a suspect donation of $5.1 million to Active Blind and Visually Impaired of Nevada, a nonprofit organization that helps the blind. Gupta disputed Sun reports that the donation was composed of worthless railroad bonds and unconfirmed real estate holdings.

"That $5.1 million was allocated to me by the International Fund, but it reneged and used the money for another humanitarian project," he said."When the money didn't materialize, I gave some mining claims as a token to the Active Blind."

The claims were for 42 acres of desert in Esmeralda County.

After receiving publicity in the form of a newspaper ad purchased by the director of Active Blind to thank the couple for the supposed $5.1 million donantion, Misra made a $225 million bid for the Vikings.

Records show Gupta, his wife and companies were involved in 12 lawsuits between 1992 and 2000 in Clark County District Court.

Sun reporter Ed Koch

contributed to this report.