A district court in Nebraska has ordered the seizure and sale of the 43 vehicles of Neil Suresh Chandran, who is in custody awaiting trial for his role in a $55 million investment scam.
The seized vehicles include 26 newer model Teslas, a Porsche, a Mercedes Benz, a Land Rover, and a motor vessel and trailer described as a Malibu Wakesetter 23 LSV. Nebraska US Magistrate Judge Cheryl Zwart March 1 ordered the sale of all the vehicles, noting in her order that it would be too costly to store and maintain them until the case against Chandran is finalized.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, which filed a complaint earlier this year against Chandran and his partners in the scheme, stated in court documents: “This case concerns a brazen and far-reaching unregistered offering fraud conducted between at least 2018 and 2022.”
The SEC noted that Chandran and his partners claimed to own a unique blockchain technology, CoinDeal, that was on the verge of being sold for trillions of dollars to a group of reputable billionaire buyers, and that they needed interim financial support until the sale transaction closed.
“Chandran targeted mostly unsophisticated investors with false and misleading promises and representations that investments in CoinDeal would soon yield extremely high returns from the imminent sale of his business. Ultimately, there was no sale, and no distribution of proceeds, because CoinDeal was a sham,” stated the SEC in its complaint.
Chandran and his business partner Michael Glaspie told potential investors they would get multi-million dollar returns on an initial investment of $1000, and billions in return on investments of $100,000 or more. Glaspie offered to personally refund investors with a 7 percent profit, in case the deal with CoinDeal failed.
Chandran and Glaspie, along with their co-conspirators Garry Davidson, Linda Knott, Amy Mossel, diverted millions of dollars for personal use via shell companies set up to scam investors.
In June 2022, the Justice Department indicted Chandran on three counts of wire fraud and two counts of monetary transaction in unlawful proceeds for his involvement in CoinDeal. The SEC filed its case against all five suspects on Jan. 5.
“This elaborate investment fraud scheme defrauded more than 10,000 victims of over $55 million,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI Washington Field Office.
Glaspie pleaded guilty Feb. 23 to one count of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 16, and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Chandran’s trial is expected to begin April 12 via a telephone conference with Judge Zwart.
A group of victims who were scammed by Chandran have set up a petition on change.org, seeking to keep him behind bars until his trial has concluded. The petition — which can be viewed here: https://www.change.org/p/keep-neil-chandran-behind-bars — alleges Chandran has scammed more than $300 million from “the elderly and uninformed.” The petition notes that Chandran and his partners continue to tell people that the deal will eventually come through and they will be rich.
“They are keeping hope alive so that victims stop requesting chargebacks from their banks just long enough so that the window of time victims can request these chargebacks will eventually close. Many banks already have closed that window,” noted the petition.
Chandran, 51, has been previously convicted of investor fraud. In 2006, California’s Department of Corporations ordered Chandran to desist and refrain from offering or selling securities in California. In 2015, the Alberta Securities Commission sanctioned Chandran and his company for engaging in unregistered trading and illegal securities offerings and fined him $460,000 CAD. In 2016, the Ontario Securities Commission entered a reciprocal order against Chandran, banning him from trading in securities and soliciting investors to trade in securities. In 2018, Chandran pleaded guilty to grand larceny and securities fraud in the state of New York and was ordered to pay almost $2.9 million.
