Harish Sunkara, 51, of Fenton has been sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to repay $1,271,800 he stole from investors by lying about an agreement between his IT company, Pace Solutions, and a Texas airport, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.
Sunkara pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated identity theft on Aug. 4, and U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp handed down the four-year sentence on Nov. 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, court records show.
“Harish Sunkara knowingly defrauded and stole money from people who trusted him,” said Jay Greenberg, special agent in charge of the FBI St. Louis Division. “For his selfish greed, he received the ultimate payment of four years in federal prison. Unfortunately, fraudsters exploit people they already know because of the existing trust. This type of tactic is so common, it is known as ‘affinity fraud.’”
According to Sunkara’s plea agreement, between Sept. 2, 2020, and Nov. 16, 2021, he sent potential investors false documents that said he had secured contracts with Dallas Fort Worth International Airport to provide IT training software. Sunkara had falsified a legitimate contract he received from the airport in October 2019 that paid his company $49,500, changing the original contract to convince investors that the airport would pay his company between $750,000 and $950,000.
The altered documents included the forged signature of the airport’s contract administrator, according to the agreement.
Sunkara received money from at least six investors who each lost money ranging from $51,800 to $645,000. However, Sunkara did not use the money for his company but instead transferred all or parts of those payments to casinos, spending about $5.5 million to gamble in Missouri and Las Vegas between 2020 and 2021, the agreement said.
The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. attorney Derek Wiseman prosecuted the case.