Businessman sentenced in bond sale scheme

Jace Radke

Monday, June 17, 2002 | 10:17 a.m.

Las Vegas businessman Anil Gupta was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay $295,000 in restitution Friday for a scheme involving worthless railroad bonds.

U.S. District Court Judge Philip Pro listened to Gupta's request to grant him a sentence of time served for the year he has spent in custody at the North Las Vegas jail, but denied the motion.

"There is a penalty or consequence that flows when you breach a responsibility, in this case the law," Pro said. "I'm not going to grant the request because of the amount of funds lost and the serious and sophisticated nature of the crimes."

Gupta was indicted in May 2001 on 22 counts in connection with a railroad bond scheme. Victims were told by Gupta and his co-conspirators that the bonds were legitimate and there was a market for them, even though he knew they were worthless.

Gupta pleaded guilty to three of the 22 counts -- conspiracy, wire fraud and aiding and abetting. He will receive credit for the year he has already served in North Las Vegas, but will have to spend 18 months in federal prison.

Once released Gupta will be placed in Immigration and Naturalization Service custody, and will likely face deportation to Canada, according to his attorney Peter Christiansen.

Debra Lorraine Caldera pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in August 2001 for her part in the scheme. According to court records, Caldera played the part of the supposed buyer of the bonds, making the victims believe that there was resale value. In April she was ordered to pay $75,000 in restitution and sentenced to one year and one day in prison by Pro.

Caldera received a reduced sentence because of her cooperation with prosecutors, which secured a guilty plea from Gupta.

In 1998 Gupta boasted that his wife, Shruti Misra, had more than $5 billion in precious metals, land and other assets. The couple submitted a bid, which eventually reached $225 million, to buy the NFL's Minnesota Vikings. However, they could not substantiate the claim that they had the money to buy the team.

When the Las Vegas Sun reported warehouses capable of storing the $2.4 billion in gold, silver and platinum that the couple claimed to own did not exist in Las Vegas, Gupta said he had "transformed" the metals into rhodium and osmium, which would require a smaller storage space.02