Iyer Vaidyanathan Narayan: Fraud and Embezzlement (Update 2024)
Iyer Vaidyanathan Narayan is facing allegations of stealing $50 million from other companies.
He is facing a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court for this theft as well.
The man is a banker based in Dubai but has a residence in Bahrain too.
(Source)
According to the lawsuit, Iyer Vaidyanathan Narayan was doctoring bank statements and concealed embezzlement from Astra Global, a global shipping company.
Iyer had been working with the owners of Astra Global for 10 years from 2009 to 2019.
Furthermore, the lawsuit says while he was maintaining amicable relations with the family that controls Astra Global, he was embezzling funds from their firm.
The lawsuit accuses him of providing the owners false bank statements. This way, the lawsuit claims Iyer Vaidyanathan Narayan was able to hide his fraudulent activities for a long time.
As part of the proceedings, he has even received a summon from the NY court:
More details on this case below:
“Iyer Vaidyanathan Narayan Stole $50 Million” – Background of the Lawsuit and Allegations
The Gupta family owns Astra Global. Between the period of 2009 to 2019, Iyer became extremely close to the family.
He even attended their 25th wedding anniversary in 2010. In 2016, he attended an 80th birthday celebration.
Furthermore, he attended their family funerals in 2018 and 2019.
However, the lawsuit claims that Iyer Vaidyanathan Narayan, who usually calls himself Ganesh, stole $50 from their company by using his connections.
To do so, he was using false bank statements.
Also, the lawsuit says Iyer used the embezzled money and several shell companies to invest in luxury hotels. These hotels are in Florida and New York.
The lawsuit even mentions the names of some of these hotels such as Dream South Beach (Miami) and the Chatwal (New York).
Also, the lawsuit says Iyer Vaidyanathan Narayan has used the money to buy 2,000 acres of land in the Catskills region of New York upstate.
Afterwards, Dubai police arrested him for a different criminal complaint Astra Global filed in 2020.
However, even after the filing of lawsuit and the arrest, Iyer was able to earn profits from the shell companies.
When I tried to verify the arrest with Dubai’s General Department of Criminal Investigation, they didn’t respond.
What the Lawsuit Says on Iyer’s Deception:
The lawsuit gives a lot of information on how Iyer Vaidyanathan Narayan went about this process.
It says he began his relationship with the owners of Astra Global when the company opened an account with Indosuez.
They appointed Iyer as the relationship manager. The suit says he would always talk about other rich clients and make himself seem like an extremely powerful and connected banker.
Through this tactic, he was able to win the trust of the Gupta family, according to the lawsuit.
Eventually, Astra began trusting the bank statements Iyer was giving them directly and stopped checking the e-banking statements.
The suit alleges Iyer Vaidyanathan Narayan used to make plenty of excuses whenever they questioned him.
Fake Bank Statements and Lies:
Asta Global had paid around $25 million dividends each year from 2010 to 2016.
They paid this amount from their accounts with Indosuez to Tradex, their parent company. In 2019, they tried to send $14.5 million to Tradex but Iyer refused.
He said that they can’t make the payment because the account’s liquidity was tied in other assets. So, making the payment would violate the minimum-balance requirements.
This didn’t make sense to Astra Global and the Gupta family.
According to the suit, Iyer Vaidyanathan Narayan kept stalling while the family tried to contact someone else at Indosuez.
It’s worth noting that by this time, Astra Global hadn’t talked to anyone else from Indosuez for 3 years apart from Iyer.
In 2020, another banker from Indosuez finally responded to them. He pointed out that the email address which CC’d on all the correspondence had two extra characters in its domain.
It wasn’t the actual email address of the company. Instead, it was a fake address mimicking the bank.
Later, the banker sent Astra Global the bank statements they wanted.
When they compared the new bank statements with the ones Iyer had provided them with, they noticed $171 million were missing.
Furthermore, the new statements reflected 4 withdrawals which totaled $45.5 million. These withdrawals sent funds to a bank account Iyer was controlling.
Then, the funds went to purchase the long-term lease of the Chatwal, a luxurious Manhattan hotel.
Apart from these claims, the lawsuit says Iyer Vaidyanathan Narayan used a different shell company to own and control a luxury hotel in Miami, Florida.
Avoid Iyer Vaidyanathan Narayan
Indosuez fired Iyer Vaidyanathan Narayan in 2020 after learning of his actions.
Also, the bank filed a criminal complaint against him in November 2020 in Switzerland. On the other hand, the lawsuit says Astra Global has tried to resolve the dispute with Iyer but has failed.
It points out that Iyer has liquidated his assets outside the US. This includes selling some portions of the land he owns in the Catskills, the lawsuit alleges.
Documentation reveals he owns a villa in Bahrain:
Now, Astra Global wants to take over the hotels and the land as well as get at least $50 million in damages.
Judging from the media reports and the lawsuit, it’s obvious that Iyer Vaidyanathan Narayan is not as reliable as he claims to be.
You should be wary of such businesses. For example, Barry Gabster is the CEO of a marketing firm who scammed hundreds of people and made millions before getting caught.
Similarly, you have Sharon Kleyne, who is receiving allegations of using fraudulent tactics to raise funds for her firm.
Beware of Iyer Vaidyanathan Narayan.
The poor Gupta family trusted this crook and he betrayed them in the worst manner.
He is an example of how selfish some bankers can be.