Tripp Scott, as Receivers in a $100 Million Dollar Ponzi Scheme Case, Assist the US Government in Securing One of the Stiffest Sentences in Recent History

Law360, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (May 30, 2025, 8:20 PM EDT) -- A Florida federal judge on Friday sentenced the former president of a trucking and logistics company to 23 years in prison for defrauding more than 1,600 people who invested millions of dollars in purchasing big-rig vehicles, calling the crime "a classic Ponzi scheme of staggering scale."

Following a roughly four-hour hearing in the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, U.S. District Judge David S. Leibowitz sentenced Sanjay Singh, of Coral Springs, Florida, whom a jury found guilty of eight counts that included wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering following a roughly two-week trial in November.

Judge Leibowitz said what Singh did was an "affinity" crime, meaning numerous people of the same community were defrauded. In this case, several people in the South Florida Haitian community had lost almost or all of their life savings after purchasing big-rig trucks through Singh's company, Royal Bengal Logistics Inc.

"My family was a victim of a Ponzi scheme in a totally different case 15 years ago," Judge Leibowitz said. "Part of what can't be captured in the evidence in affinity frauds like this Ponzi scheme is how they make you feel like I'm a sucker for believing it. At the time, it looks legitimate. There are hallmarks of legitimacy."

Singh was charged in 2023 and accused of running a four-year-long Ponzi-like scheme that targeted Haitian Americans in South Florida, convincing them to invest in his company's truck program by purchasing a big rig and promising the investors monthly returns of 200%, according to the indictment. Singh also offered people opportunities to invest in the company's trailer manufacturing program for which they'd receive returns ranging from 20% to 40%, according to his indictment.

About a week later, Singh was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Florida federal over the same conduct, court records show. The civil case is ongoing.

Singh recruited the majority of his victims by visiting Haitian American churches in South Florida — and also one in Massachusetts — and would sometimes receive funds directly from church bank accounts, according to prosecutors.

In total, U.S. officials believe Singh collected at least $158 million from investors between 2019 and 2023.

Paul O. Lopez of Tripp Scott PA, a receiver appointed in the case, testified at the hearing Friday that he was tasked to locate assets purchased by Royal Bengal Logistics in order to recover investor losses.

Lopez told the court he and his firm established an investor claims verification process, testifying that he was able to establish, thus far, that at least 1,688 investors were defrauded and accounted for about $92 million of the principal amounts they paid to acquire big rigs, not including the interest they were owed.

While the process is ongoing, Lopez said, he estimated approximately $54 million in losses after more than $100 million was paid out to investors. A forensic accountant who testified at the trial estimated the losses to be about $53.7 million, Judge Leibowitz noted.

Lopez described the vast majority of the trucks sold to investors were older trucks with "lots of miles," and many that were purchased by investors were cannibalized for parts at a Lubbock, Texas-based junkyard to fix trucks that were then purchased by other investors.

Part of Singh's pitch was that investors would be able to own their truck "free and clear" after a certain amount of time, although they'd likely be worthless after five years, Lopez said, adding that victims were "upside down" on loan payments to the trucks that had little-to-no equity. Lopez testified that the hardest part of his job was hearing how the victims were defrauded.

"In many instances, it was their life savings or a substantial portion of their life savings," Lopez said. "Not only did they lose money, but finance companies are coming after them. The interaction is painful on a human level, and the stories were heard were heartbreaking."

Singh's family and several of his victims attended the hearing. One victim, identified as Mr. Bertrand, told the court that he remembered the day he had to take back his truck and when his bank accounts got frozen.

"I could not afford to have breakfast with my kids," Mr. Bertrand said. "I'm hoping justice can be served the right way."

Robert F. Moore of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, recommended a sentence of 25 years in prison, saying Singh targeted many of his victims at their churches and that out of the $158 million he solicited, about one-third of that amount was spent on himself and his family.

Victor Van Dyke of the Federal Public Defender's Office for the Southern District of Florida, representing Singh, questioned the accuracy of Lopez's verified claims document, asking him whether the receiver accounted for any victims who may have received gains on their principal amounts.

Van Dyke argued the loss amount is not ascertainable and therefore shouldn't be used in calculating his client's sentence.

Judge Leibowitz agreed that the loss amount is a "lousy proxy," but he added that the essence of Singh's scheme is that "he looked into the whites of the eyes [of his victims] and lied right to them."

Abigail E. Becker of the Federal Public Defender's Office for the Southern District of Florida, who also represents Singh, urged the court to consider a sentence of much less than 25 years, arguing other defendants have received an average sentence of a little more than 13 years for their white collar frauds.

Becker asked the court to consider that Royal Bengal Logistics wasn't initially launched with the intention of perpetrating a fraud and that part of the business was legitimate when Singh was arrested.

She disagreed that Singh's fraud was motivated by greed, saying her client "desperately, and in a very misguided way, tried to right a sinking ship and shore up [Royal Bengal Logistics'] finances." Becker added Singh still lived in his four-bedroom, three-bathroom Coral Springs house with his family, disagreeing with prosecutors that he was living a lavish lifestyle.

Singh himself gave a statement toward the end of the hearing, expressing that he someday hopes to make amends.

"I want to sincerely let the court know I am very devastated by the losses the investors have incurred, and I hope an opportunity comes someday to make it right," Singh said.

The government is represented by Robert F. Moore, Roger Cruz, Marx P. Calderón and Sara M. Klco of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida.

Singh is represented by Abigail E. Becker and Victor Van Dyke of the Federal Public Defender's Office for the Southern District of Florida.

The case is USA v. Sanjay Singh, case number 0:23-cr-60117, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.