Wethersfield Woman Indicted for Fake Debt Elimination Scheme

WETHERSFIELD, CT — A Wethersfield woman has been implicated in a bogus debt elimination program, a leading prosecutor said.

Deirdre M. Daly, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced on Friday that a federal grand jury sitting in New Haven has returned a nine-count indictment charging Urmila Sri Thakur, 72, of Wethersfield, with conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering offenses related to a fraudulent debt elimination scheme.

She is also known as Urmila Buddhu-Thakur and Indro Buddhu-Thakur, Daly said.

The indictment was returned on Wednesday and on Friday, Thakur appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford, entered a plea of not guilty to the charges, and was released on a $250,000 bond, Daly said.

According to court documents, from 2009 to June 2012, Thakur, her former husband, Deowraj “Deo” Buddhu and their daughter, Sunita Buddhu, sold a debt elimination “program” to vulnerable individuals through various businesses, including Paradise Consulting Service, Hema, Inc., and Secured Redemption.

In exchange for substantial fees, Deo Buddhu told victims about a little-known government fund that could be used to pay off their mortgages and other debts, Daly said.

No such fund exists, Daly said.

Buddhu instructed his victims to stop making payments on their mortgages, credit cards and other debts, and to stop paying their property taxes. He also provided his victims with fictitious promissory notes, which he called “bonds,” as well as other frivolous documentation, and advised his victims to use them to pay their debts.

The indictment alleges that Thakur participated in the scheme by signing documents provided to victims as a witness, taking money from victims in exchange for their participation in the purported program, and managing payroll operations for the various businesses used for the purpose of selling and attempting to sell the program to the victims.

The indictment further alleges that, on June 12, 2012, the day after Deo Buddhu’s arrest, Thakur withdrew $75,000 from a certificate of deposit account that contained funds from the scheme, Daly said.

Thakur also obtained several cashier’s checks, including one for $50,000 made payable to herself, which she thereafter negotiated using accounts in the name of SDK SYS Solutions and TRK Consulting Services, Daly said.

The indictment charges Thakur with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, one count of mail fraud and seven counts of money laundering, Daly said. If convicted, she faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years for the conspiracy count, 20 years for the mail fraud count and 10 years on each count of money laundering.

Deo Buddhu and Sunita Buddhu were previously convicted in Hartford federal court.

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