Who Is Rishi Shah, Indian-American Sentenced For $1 Billion Fraud Against Google, Goldman Sachs

Indian-American businessman Rishi Shah has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for orchestrating a massive Rs 8,300 crore fraud. The Chicago billionaire was convicted for his role in a USD 1 billion fraud scheme at Outcome Health, an advertising industry startup. This company had high-profile investors, including Goldman Sachs, Alphabet (Google's parent company), and a venture capital firm owned by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. 

Shah, a 38-year-old Indian-American and co-founder of Outcome Health, which provided advertisements on TVs in doctors' offices, was found guilty last year on multiple counts of fraud and money laundering by a federal jury. Last week, Shah and two other executives from Outcome Health were sentenced in Chicago by US District Judge Thomas Durkin, according to a statement from the US Attorney’s Office on Monday.

Prosecutors had requested a 15-year sentence, describing Shah as the "driving force behind a complex web of deceit aimed at clients, lenders, investors, and an audit firm". Shah and the other executives were accused of deceiving pharmaceutical clients by charging them for never placing ads and falsely portraying the company's financial health to investors.

The accused include 38-year-old Rishi Shah, co-founder and former CEO of Outcome, and 38-year-old Shradha Agarwal, co-founder, and Brad Purdy, former president of Outcome.

Court documents and trial evidence revealed that Outcome, initially known as Context Media before January 2017, was established in 2006. The company installed television screens and tablets in doctors' offices throughout the United States and sold advertising space on these devices to clients, primarily pharmaceutical companies.

An official release in the case indicated that Shah, Agarwal and Purdy either lied or directed others to lie to hide under-deliveries from clients, making it seem like the company was delivering advertising content to the number of screens specified in client contracts. Additionally, Purdy and other Outcome staff inflated metrics to falsely demonstrate how often patients interacted with Outcome's tablets in doctors' offices.

Shah was found guilty of five counts of mail fraud, ten counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud, and two counts of money laundering. While Shraddha Agarwal was convicted of five counts of mail fraud, eight counts of wire fraud, and two counts of bank fraud. Three other former Outcome employees pleaded guilty before the trial.