Indian-American businessman in California pleads guilty to money laundering

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An Indian-American businessman from Fresno, California, pleaded guilty to money laundering, by helping a marijuana dealer to turn his profits into clean cash.

Krishen Sauble Iyer, 36, of Fresno, pleaded guilty Feb. 1, to conspiring to launder dirty money. Iyer, whose father is of Indian origin, and mother a white American, used to own several insurance sales and brokerage businesses in Fresno.

Iyer is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Dale A. Drozd of the Eastern District of California, on April 24.

He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

According to court documents referenced in a Justice Department press release, Iyer knew a drug dealer identified only as S.V., with whom he conspired to launder the proceeds of S.V.ís marijuana trafficking.

The Indian-American did it through one of his businesses named Health Shield.
Iyer and S.V. agreed that the marijuana dealer would transfer the drug proceeds to Health Shield, and those funds would then be paid back to S.V. to make the drug proceeds appear as legitimate salary payments.

Iyer issued two Form 1099s to S.V., which claimed that Health Shield paid the drug dealer $111,952 in 2013 and $164,000 in 2014, though in reality, S.V. did not earn the money working for his company. The marijuana dealer paid Iyer a commission for transferring the funds.