In a huge legal victory, attorneys from Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi announced Thursday that they have successfully resolved a case against a former health care executive accused by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of running a scheme to defraud investors of $300 million.
The deal: No jail time, no probation, no supervised release — and a fine of just $5,000.
The case, led by Lee Vartan, Melissa Wernick and Alan Mohl of CSG Law along with Frank Monsour of Orrick, was against Pavandeep Bakhshi of the U.K.
Bakhshi, a former member of the board of directors of a health care company, was charged in December 2018 with securities fraud in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud investors of $300 million.
Following years of motion practice and numerous discussions with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Bakhshi’s legal team was able to reach a plea agreement to a superseding information to a single misdemeanor count of delivering a false certificate or writing.
“This is an incredible win for CSG Law and, more importantly, Mr. Bakhshi,” Vartan said.
“We were able to convince the U.S. Attorney’s Office that its $300 million securities fraud indictment was wrong — at least with respect to Mr. Bakhshi — and have it dismissed in its entirety.
“After a long road, Mr. Bakhshi can finally resume normalcy with his family and his business. His good name has been vindicated.”
Bakhshi was arrested at JFK International Airport in December 2018, when he was returning from London. At the time, he was charged in connection with a merger transaction designed to convert the company into a private entity by then-U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito for the District of New Jersey.
The case was settled with the office of the current U.S. attorney for New Jersey, Philip Sellinger.
