Infamous jailed Orlando fraudster gets 27 more years after having wife run new scam

An infamous Orlando fraudster was sentenced to an additional 27 years in federal prison Tuesday after directing his wife to swindle a government agency while in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Nikesh Ajay Patel, 40, formerly of Windemere, and his now ex-wife Trisha Patel, 41, of Orlando, were sentenced for their part in a scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to a news release Wednesday from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

From around January 2021 to December 2023, Patel recruited his wife to pretend she was a representative of a commercial water pump manufacturer in Houston, Texas, looking to expand its operations into Puerto Rico, according to the release. That allowed her to receive USDA guarantees for fake loans which were then sold for $7.4 million.

The Patels each pleaded guilty in May to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was given a 27-year prison sentence and she received four years, three months.

The FBI recovered $74,545 and a 1011 BMW X7. The Patels were ordered to pay the remaining balance as restitution to the USDA and four other financial institutions.

Nikesh’s sentence must be served consecutively with 25 years he received in 2018 for defrauding the USDA of $179 million from 2010 to 2014. While on pretrial release in that case, he told authorities he was gathering money to pay back his victims, according to court records.

Instead, he’d actually devised another scheme to defraud the agency of an additional $19 million in Orlando and attempted to flee to Ecuador on a private jet to avoid the 2018 sentencing — but was arrested at Gateway Kissimmee Airport while trying to do so. He pleaded guilty in 2023 to that fraud scheme.

He reportedly bought five hotels with the proceeds through the Orlando company Alena Hospitality.