Federal judge orders estate planner Caramadre, ex-employee to pay $46.3 million
Published: February 03, 2014 10:48 AM
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A federal judge ruled Monday that estate planner Joseph A. Caramadre and his former employee must pay $46.3 million in restitution related to an investment scheme exploiting the terminally ill.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith upheld Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan's recommendation that Caramadre and Raymour Radhakrishnan owe $46-plus million to insurance companies and bond issuers defrauded under the scheme.
Smith in December sentenced Caramadre, a once political donor and philanthropist, to six years in prison for his role as mastermind of the investment strategy that used the identities of dying people to purchase investments for his clients. Radhakrishnan received a year and a day in prison.
Smith held off, however, in determining the amount of restitution the two men owed.
In accepting Sullivan's recommendations, Smith found that Caramadre and Radhakrishan were not equally culpable for the $46 million in losses the companies sustained from the inception of the criminal conspiracy in 1995.
Radhakrishnan participated from 2007 through the scheme's end in 2010, he found. During that time, the companies suffered $33.2 million in losses, he said.
"Radhakrishnan served a vital role during this time period," Smith wrote. "Indeed, to the terminally ill people taken advantage of, he was the personification of the Caramadre enterprise."
"Caramadre may aptly be described as the mastermind of the conspiracy at issue in this case," Smith wrote.
Smith found Caramadre and Radhakrishnan jointly and severally liable for the $33.2 million, with Caramadre solely on the hook for the remaining $13.1 million. According to the findings, the largest amount -- $9.6 million -- is owed to Nationwide followed by $2.3 million to ING.
Caramadre and Radhakrishnan pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy in November 2012, four days into trial.
Prosecutors portrayed Radhakrishnan as the person who misled the ill people, some on their death beds, into unwittingly signing documents. Those documents were then used to purchase investments on behalf of Caramadre's clients. Caramadre's investors profited upon the individual's death.
Witnesses at trial, some testifying by video from hospital beds, told of receiving a few thousand dollars from Caramadre's firm after signing papers that they didn't understand.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith upheld Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan's recommendation that Caramadre and Raymour Radhakrishnan owe $46-plus million to insurance companies and bond issuers defrauded under the scheme.
Smith in December sentenced Caramadre, a once political donor and philanthropist, to six years in prison for his role as mastermind of the investment strategy that used the identities of dying people to purchase investments for his clients. Radhakrishnan received a year and a day in prison.
Smith held off, however, in determining the amount of restitution the two men owed.
In accepting Sullivan's recommendations, Smith found that Caramadre and Radhakrishan were not equally culpable for the $46 million in losses the companies sustained from the inception of the criminal conspiracy in 1995.
Radhakrishnan participated from 2007 through the scheme's end in 2010, he found. During that time, the companies suffered $33.2 million in losses, he said.
"Radhakrishnan served a vital role during this time period," Smith wrote. "Indeed, to the terminally ill people taken advantage of, he was the personification of the Caramadre enterprise."
"Caramadre may aptly be described as the mastermind of the conspiracy at issue in this case," Smith wrote.
Smith found Caramadre and Radhakrishnan jointly and severally liable for the $33.2 million, with Caramadre solely on the hook for the remaining $13.1 million. According to the findings, the largest amount -- $9.6 million -- is owed to Nationwide followed by $2.3 million to ING.
Caramadre and Radhakrishnan pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy in November 2012, four days into trial.
Prosecutors portrayed Radhakrishnan as the person who misled the ill people, some on their death beds, into unwittingly signing documents. Those documents were then used to purchase investments on behalf of Caramadre's clients. Caramadre's investors profited upon the individual's death.
Witnesses at trial, some testifying by video from hospital beds, told of receiving a few thousand dollars from Caramadre's firm after signing papers that they didn't understand.
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