PALMDALE : Man Sentenced for Real Estate Scheme

A Palmdale man has been sentenced to serve nearly five years in prison for embezzling almost $850,000 from investors in real estate deals.

Raj K. Puri, 37, was sentenced Thursday in Van Nuys Superior Court to four years and eight months in prison after his conviction on Dec. 11 on four counts of grand theft by embezzlement and one count of conspiracy to commit grand theft.

Puri was also ordered to pay nearly $450,000 in restitution.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert B. Foltz said Puri faced a maximum prison sentence of 10 years, but said he was generally pleased with the sentence because first-time offenders in grand theft cases rarely get prison time.

“I can’t say it is inappropriate . . . but I would have liked to have seen some additional years simply because of the nature of the crime,” said Foltz, adding that Puri, a citizen of India, will be deported after serving his sentence.

Puri and his wife, Moyne M. Puri, 45, operated Puri Financial Inc. and other companies in Lancaster. Puri’s wife faces similar charges, but she remains at large and authorities believe she fled to Trinidad, where she is a citizen.

Foltz said the Puris accepted clients’ money for real estate investments and then diverted the funds to their personal accounts or drained money from their clients’ property holdings by mortgaging them and pocketing the loan proceeds.

The Puris are believed to have bilked at least 13 victims of more than $1.5 million, Foltz said.