Telugu jailed in US for fraud

Hyderabad:  A 45-year-old man of Telugu descent was sentenced to 20 months in prison by a court in Texas, United States, for defrauding a bank and stealing more than $4.84 lakh from his employer.

Kiran Andhavarapu, a US Army veteran, is a second generation immigrant in Texas. His parents hailed from Andhra Pradesh, and Kiran worked in the finance department of E Production Solutions, a subsidiary of Weatherford.

He had access to cheques sent by vendors and allegedly opened bank accounts in the name of EProduction Solutions, listing himself as the owner and sole proprietor of the business. He then took 36 cheques made out to EProduction Solutions between February 2014 and November 2015.

Weatherford officials discovered the missing cheques in December 2015 and confronted Kiran. After his arrest, during trial, he pleaded guilty on February 9.

He was sentenced on Thursday, according to a statement by the US Attorney for the Southern District of Texas. US District Judge Keith P. Ellison, who accepted the guilty plea, said Kiran had abused a position of trust as a financial controller, which facilitated his commission of the crime.

He will remain in custody pending transfer to a US Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined at a later date, an official statement from the district judge said. Kiran, who is married to a US national, had served 11 years in the US Army in Afghanistan, Guatemala and South Korea. He lived in Conroe, Texas, with his family.