A Bay Area real estate company honcho has been slapped with charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to the office of United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey. Vikram Srinivasan is accused of duping an investor out of $125,000 in a fraudulent real estate investment scheme. The FBI's Robert Tripp also confirmed Srinivasan's indictment, which was made public today.

The 31-year-old Fremont resident allegedly masterminded the operation through Paragon Holdings, LLC. Srinivasan is said to have exacerbated a prior real estate deal for an individual only identified as "R.K." As per the indictment, instead of recovering the victim’s funds, Srinivasan transferred a chunk to his personal account for his own use and lied about where the money was held. "The indictment describes how Srinivasan represented that victim’s money was held by certain escrow companies, when, in fact, it was not," the Department of Justice detailed.

Furthermore, Srinivasan is accused of conning R.K. into sending additional funds for a supposed real estate transaction in Pleasant Hill. According to the indictment, this transaction was non-existent and instead the funds were transferred to Srinivasan’s account. Two other victims, named "B.R." and "A.S." in the indictment, also had their identities unlawfully used during the scheme. Each count of aggravated identity theft could tag on a mandatory two-year sentence for Srinivasan, following any conviction for wire fraud, which could land him a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Srinivasan's legal troubles began with his indictment filed on February 29, before making his first court appearance today. He's expected back in court on March 20, according to statement from the Department of Justice. The Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert David Rees, with help from Katie Turner and Kay Konopaske, is leading the prosecution as result of an FBI investigation into the matter.