A New Orleans developer has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for stealing government funds and conspiracy charges.
Praveen Kailas, age 30, pleaded guilty in August to a bill of information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit theft of government funds and one count of theft of government funds. He was sentenced by the Honorable Sarah S. Vance.
The charges stem from Kailas’s company, Lago Construction, L.L.C.’s, overbilling its construction monitoring subcontract for the Louisiana Road Home’s Small Rental Property Program (SRPP). The program provides monetary assistance to property owners to repair their small-scale rental properties damaged by Hurricanes Katrina or Rita.
Kailas’s theft of federal funds designed for SRPP administration began from the inception of Lago Construction, L.L.C.’s subcontract. He billed for working 40 hours each week, but did not spend 40 hours each week performing SRPP construction monitoring services or any other administrative services.
Kailas admitted that he and other stakeholders of Lago Construction, L.L.C., solicited monitors to work on the construction of a home they owned in New Orleans, Louisiana, and/or to work at other companies owned and operated by them. Hours that these monitors spent on other projects for Kailas and other stakeholders of Lago Construction, L.L.C., were not deducted from the hours that were billed to the SRPP contract nor were the monitors paid separately for the work they performed on other projects.
The court found Kailas overbilled $236,000 and ordered him to pay restitution to HUD in the amount of $67,524.00, as the entity dispersing the HUD funds previously withheld $168,476.00 from Kailas’s invoices. Kailas will be on 3 years supervised release following his release from prison.
The case was investigated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development-OIG and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Department of Homeland Security-OIG. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Emily K. Greenfield.
Praveen Kailas’s sentence serves as a reminder that white-collar crimes will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The people of Louisiana deserve to have their government funds used for the intended purpose, not for personal gain.
Related Federal Cases
- Katrina Funds Pilfered: Gretna Woman Indicted · Louisiana
- Lake Providence Woman Admits Stealing $5K in HUD Funds · Louisiana
- Chalmette Bookkeeper Guillot Gets 30 Months for $2M Theft · Louisiana
- Developer Gibbs Admits $123M First NBC Bank Fraud · Louisiana
- NOLA Woman Accused of Stealing $194K in Gov’t Funds · Louisiana
Key Facts
- State: Louisiana
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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