A married couple from India who allegedly obtained U.S. citizenship by fraud have been arrested on bank fraud and immigration charges, acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said today.
The couple, Ajay Dave, 60, and Parul Dave, 59, who live in Overland Park, are scheduled to make an initial appearance in the case at 2:30 p.m. today in Kansas City, Kan., before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge James P. O’Hara. A federal grand jury returned a sealed indictment against the Daves last week in which the Daves are charged with two counts of bank fraud, two counts of making false statements on their applications to become U.S. citizens, and four counts related to obtaining their U.S. citizenship by fraud.
If convicted, the defendants face up to 30 years in prison, $1 million in fines, and forfeiture of residential real estate identified in the case. They also face revocation of their United States citizenship and possible deportation to India.
The indictment alleges that the Daves provided false financial information and bogus tax returns in April 2010 to First Federal Bank in Overland Park to obtain a $417,000 mortgage loan on an Overland Park residence. It also alleges they engaged in similar conduct in July 2010 to obtain a $238,500 refinance of a home they own in Topeka, Kan., from Topeka’s Heritage Bank.
Then, starting in 2012, when the Daves, who came to the United States in 1999, began the process of seeking naturalized citizenship, they failed to disclose their alleged false statements to the banks, according to the indictment. Parul Dave became a U.S. citizen on October 26, 2012; Ajay Dave, who before he was naturalized was known as Ajaykumar Balwantrai Dave, was sworn in as a U.S. citizen on August 23, 2013.
Beall said the case arose from a joint investigation of the Kansas Department of Revenue; the Department of Homeland Security’s Citizenship and Immigration Services (Fraud Detection and National Security Office); Homeland Security Investigations; U.S. Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigation; Kansas Department of Labor Fraud Investigation Division; Kansas Alcoholic Beverage Control; and the Overland Park Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson.