South Asian Guy Loses $119M for Real Estate Projects, Files to Stop SEC Suit

A charismatic guy from the Bay Area in California, Sanjeev Acharya, dreamed big of building the next real estate empire. He raised $119 million from his South Asian friends. But the SEC sued him in December for deceptive conduct (for saying that projects were doing well when in fact his real estate investments failed). The SEC asked for a receiver and an injunction in district court. Before the hearing on SEC's request, he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In its Chapter 11 petition, he says he owes at least $100 million to creditors (mostly construction loans), but he only has less than $10 million in assets. Subscribe to the Troubled Company Reporter for more information. Visit http://bankrupt.com/periodicals/tcr/tcr.html