Indian Jailed for Cheating Moscow Government of $18M

MOSCOW, November 14 (RAPSI) – An Indian national has been sentenced to six-and-half years in jail by a Moscow court on charges of defrauding the capital city’s government of more than 600 million rubles ($18 million), the Interior Ministry has said.

Police said Jitender Kumar Singla was part of a group of Indians and Russians engaged in a series of real estate scams.

The group secured the lease over Moscow city government properties at below-market prices by rigging state auctions through a network of registered companies and then sublet those same properties in violation of the lease agreement, police said.

Officials say the Moscow government never received rental payments.

Indian newspaper The Hindu said Singla moved to Moscow in 1990 to study computer engineering, but that he later went into business.

A family friend, Vijay Kaushik, told the newspaper that Singla was an active member of the Indian community and was regularly engaged in arranging programs for visiting Indian dignitaries.

Kaushik said the charges against Singla were fabricated and that he had been targeted by Russian businessmen jealous of his success.