A well-known Bollywood promoter and film producer from northern Virginia has been sentenced to seven years in prison for one of the largest bank fraud scams in the state's history. Vijay K. Taneja. of Fairfax, Virginia, was also ordered to pay $33 million in restitution to the four banks he swindled in a complicated mortgage fraud scheme.
The 48-year-old pleaded guilty in November in US District Court in Alexandria to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Both prosecutors and the defence had agreed on the seven-year sentence as part of the plea bargain. While US District Court Judge Claude Hilton could have imposed a higher sentence, he accepted it. Taneja owned his own mortgage loan business but was better known as a concert promoter and producer of Bollywood films.