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Former Calgary TV producer convicted for grand larceny and securities fraud

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A former Calgary television producer who was permanently banned from trading by the Alberta Securities Commission in 2015 has been convicted and ordered to pay nearly US$3 million to investors in connection with a scheme “to steal millions from unwitting investors,” according to the New York state attorney general.

The case stemmed from a scheme on the part of Neil Chandran and his Las Vegas-based company, Sungame Corp., to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars by soliciting investments in computer tablets supposedly able to display content in 3D.

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Chandran, 47, and Sungame pleaded guilty to grand larceny and securities fraud in connection with a scheme on April 27.

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Sungame and Chandran were sentenced to pay about $2.8 million to the victims, according to the June 28 ruling. They were also permanently banned from participating in the distribution, sale, or purchase of any securities or commodities within or from New York state.

“The defendants in this case ran a massive securities fraud scheme, lining their own pockets by scamming New Yorkers out of millions. Today’s sentencing should send a clear message: if you defraud New Yorkers, we will catch you and we will prosecute you,” Attorney General Barbara Underwood stated.

Chandran — whose now-defunct, Calgary-based media production business once employed up to 100 people and produced the news show Energy TV, which aired on Global — was fined $400,000 by the ASC in 2015 for illegally trading and distributing securities.

The ASC, which noted at the time that Chandran had moved away from the province, said the television producer raised about $39 million from at least 210 investors between March 2007 and June 2009. The money was raised by selling shares or entering into loan agreements with attractive returns, although neither the companies nor Chandran was registered to do so.

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Beginning around January 2014 and continuing until February 2017, Chandran induced investors into purchasing tablets at $1,000 per unit, with the promise the full purchase price would be returned within weeks in the form of a no-risk rebate, according to the prosecution.

He also offered both a so-called “education grant” for half of the purchase price as well as the opportunity to allow Sungame to buy back the tablet, re-sell it and remit the profits to the original investor.

Chandran was arrested in February 2017 at a Los Angeles area airport by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol personnel after returning to the United States from Hong Kong.

If Chandran fails to pay the court-ordered restitution or otherwise violates the terms of his plea agreement, he could be re-sentenced to up to four years in prison.

shudes@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/SammyHudes

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