Hotel owner faces up to five years in jail

A man accused of hiring illegal aliens and making false statements in order to get a bank loan pleaded guilty on Thursday. It is expected that he would be sentenced in the Federal Court in February 2009.

A man accused of hiring illegal aliens and making false statements in order to get a bank loan pleaded guilty on Thursday. It is expected that he would be sentenced in the Federal Court in February 2009.

According to a press release from the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont, 39-year-old Gurdeep Nagra, a citizen of Canada residing in Brattleboro, was the president of Nanak Hotel Group, which owned and operated Putney Road’s Hampton and Quality Inns.

On 23rd of October 2007, Nagra was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after they received a tip that Nagra had hired illegal immigrants and that they were living in the hotel.

The press release stated that the immigrants were employed by a shell company designed to keep away from detection by immigration officials.

In addition to hiring illegal aliens, Nagra and his partners also applied for a construction loan to build the Hampton Inn. In order to make more money, they entered into two contracts for construction, submitted the higher cost contract to the band but worked with a contractor to get the project done at a lower cost.

The bank required Nagra and his partners to post a $400,000 deposit with the builder, but the made arrangements to get back the money through a bank account set up for the purpose. Fortunately, the bank involved did not suffer any monetary losses as a result of the scam.

Nagra faces a punishment of up to five years in jail, followed by supervised release for three years. In addition to this, he could also be fined up to $500,000.