Sameer Praveen Sethi, 42, was accused of defrauding people out of millions of dollars through a Plano-based company called Sethi Petroleum, according to court records. The fraud allegedly occurred between 2012 and May 2015.Sethi, as the manager and president of the Plano-based company, created joint ventures related to the oil and gas industry, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Texas said in a news release.
On Dec. 10, following about a week-long trial, a jury found Sethi guilty of seven counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.“The investors in this case were misled into providing their hard-earned money to a scheme that collapsed as the defendant was living well off of the money brought in by his joint ventures,” U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs said in a statement.
Sethi’s attorney, Rafael De La Garza, said he and his client respect the jurors’ findings but added Sethi still maintains his innocence.Sethi faces up to 20 years in prison, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. His sentencing, as of Monday, had not been scheduled.Hojun Choi Hojun Choi is a reporter covering Collin County. Before joining the local government team, he was a breaking news reporter for The Dallas Morning News. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.