FBI arrests Louisiana political donor Trisha Patel of Florida for alleged $7m fraud scheme

Federal officials have arrested an Orlando businesswoman in connection with a multi-million-dollar scheme that may involve money that was later contributed to a host of Louisiana politicians and the state Democratic Party. The bipartisan slate of candidates who received money include Democratic U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, Republican state Rep. Neil Riser and failed 2023 state House of Representatives candidate Madison O'Malley.

The FBI confirmed to Gambit that Trisha Patel was arrested on Dec. 18, and have alleged that in 2021 she defrauded the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a Tennessee financial company of more than $7 million. The feds said Patel has since been released "under conditions to include surrendering her passport and restricting travel within the Middle District of Florida."

More than $100,000 of the money appears to have been donated to the various political groups via two political action committees run by Blake Corley, a New Orleans-based attorney and business associate of Patel and her family. Corley is also O'Malley's fiancé. Political action committees, in some cases, have higher donation limits than individuals or businesses.

In a text message to Gambit earlier this month, Corley said he was "shocked and disappointed" when he learned Trisha Patel had been arrested. He said he has not been contacted by federal authorities and that he did not "know anything about" the alleged fraud.

Additionally, federal documents obtained by Gambit allege that Patel was working closely with her husband Nikesh — who is currently serving a multi-decade fraud sentence of his own. Trisha Patel is awaiting trial and has relinquished her passport and been ordered to remain in Florida.

On Dec. 6, 2023, FBI Special Agent Alexander Duda filed a criminal complaint seeking the arrest of Trisha Patel. The complaint accused her of conspiracy to commit wire fraud with her husband, Nikesh. At the time, Nikesh Patel was incarcerated and awaiting sentencing for a $19 million fraud scheme — and he was already years into a 25-year sentence handed down in 2018 for another $179 million scheme.

According to the complaint, a prison search in September 2023 found 3,000 pages of documents in "neat stacks" under Nikesh Patel's mattress. Those documents were connected to a fraudulent loan, the FBI alleges.

The complaint alleges the Patels created a fake lender which they used to "make" a $8,540,000 loan to Precision Powered Products, a Houston-based company, allegedly to expand the company in Puerto Rico. That loan was never made.

However, according to the complaint, the Patels allegedly then had 80% of the fake loan secured by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in October 2021 — and then sold the loan to Memphis broker-dealer Hanover Securities the next month for a profit — netting them millions of dollars. The FBI alleges they then transferred that money into accounts controlled by Trisha Patel.

The complaint further alleges that Trisha Patel gave $2.1 million of that money to an unnamed attorney, bought $500,000 into cryptocurrency, gave $200,000 to her four children's private schools and spent $81,000 on a new BMW. She spent another $91,000 on rent.

According to the complaint, she used another $1.2 million to pay "various attorneys, lobbyists, and consultants on behalf of Nikesh Patel." The complaint does not name the attorneys, lobbyists and consultants, but Corley, who denied that he is involved, has worked for the Patels and their businesses, including as the chief government affairs officer and in-house counsel for PPP and American Powered Pumps, a new Florida-based company.

"The majority of the remaining funds went to another business entity associated with the Patels," the complaint reads, though it does not identify the entity. Trisha Patel is listed in a press release as the owner of American Powered Pumps, which formed last year.

According to sources connected with PPP, the Patels purchased the company in 2022 from its longtime president, George Lingenfelder, through a trust connected to the Patel family, Verde Powered Investments.

Steven Caimano of Boca Raton, Florida, who brokered the sale of PPP to the Patels, was then brought on as executive vice president of PPP.

Corley told Gambit last year that he met Trisha Patel because she was a client at Egenberg Trial Lawyers, where he worked after graduating law school in 2021.

He also is listed as the registered agent of Bada Bing! Entertainment, a business registered in Louisiana on June 22, 2023. According to the Secretary of State's website, officers include Trisha Patel's mother-in-law, Rohini Patel, Caimano and Tushaar Desai, an Orlando lawyer who is the registered agent with the Verde trust. Corley told Gambit the company's name is a reference to a strip club/money laundering front from the HBO organized crime drama "The Sopranos."

According to LinkedIn, Corley began working for PPP in the role of chief government relations officer and in-house counsel in April 2022. However, in an October 2023 interview with Gambit, Corley repeatedly claimed he was unaware of Trisha Patel's connection to the company.

In June 2022, Corley created both state and federal political action committees under the same name: Build USA PAC. According to the PACs' state and federal filings, Corley, who is listed as the treasurer for both PACs, registered the federal PAC on June 8 and the state PAC on June 29, with both PACs' assets held by First Guaranty Bank in Ponchatoula, Louisiana.

Eight days later, on July 7, 2022, the FBI alleges Trisha Patel opened a new account with the same bank, First Guaranty, in the name of her newly acquired company, Precision Powered Products.

Campaign finance documents show that almost all of the funds contributed to both PACs came from the Patel family or their business associates, except for a single $5,000 donation on Jan. 19, 2023 from an account listed under PPP's name. All told, the Patels, PPP and their associates donated $145,000 to the state PAC and $25,000 to the federal PAC.

Within weeks of creating the PACs, Corley began spending the money. On June 22, 2022, the federal PAC gave $2,500 to the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee for an Essence Welcome Fundraiser and the next day gave $5,800 to U.S. Rep. Carter's campaign for an Essence Golf Tournament Sponsorship.

On Aug. 1, 2022, the state Build USA PAC received at least $95,000 from Trisha Patel and $45,000 from Desai, Patel's Orlando-based lawyer, under his company Grove Street Realty Holdings. That same day, the PAC donated $100,000 to the Louisiana Democratic Party. Later that month, the PAC donated $1,000 to then state Rep. Royce Duplessis and $2,500 to state Rep. Mandie Landry, who both ran for the state Senate in a special election that fall. Duplessis won that election. Landry would, later, be the opponent of Madison O'Malley, a candidate who received support from the PAC.

In September and October 2022, the state PAC gave $2,500 to Republican state Rep. Neil Riser of Columbia, $500 to Democratic Orleans Parish Traffic Court Judge Bobbie Smith, $2,500 to Democratic former state Sen. Gregory Tarver of Shreveport, $1,000 to Orleans Parish Clerk of First City Court Donna Glapion, $1,000 to then-Democrat, now-Republican Rep. Jeremy LaCombe of Livonia, and $5,000 to Anthony "A.P." Marullo's People Over Politics PAC.

In December 2022, documents show the state PAC gave $5,000 to Lambert Boissiere III's re-election campaign for Public Service Commissioner, $500 to New Orleans Council Member Helena Moreno's campaign, and another $500 to Glapion.

According to Federal Election Commission records, the federal Build USA PAC also gave more than $24,000 to candidates and other PACs outside of Louisiana between Sept. 7, 2022, and March 28, 2023, including donations to U.S. Democratic Reps. Shri Thanedar of Michigan, Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, Sanford Bishop of Georgia, Angie Craig of Minnesota and Jonathan Jackson of Illinois, as well as Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Karen Bass. In February 2023, the PAC gave $2,500 to the Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund, a national organization which supports Democrats across the country.

In addition to a $5,000 donation in 2022 to the federal Build USA PAC, Trisha Patel in 2023 personally donated $5,000 to Thanedar, $3,300 to Krishnamoorthi, $2,500 to Alaska Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola and $5,000 to California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna.

Prior to that, Patel's last federal campaign contribution appears to have been to Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio in 2016, when she made two $400 donations on the same day.

At the end of October 2022, Corley and his fiancee O'Malley attended a Diwali event at the White House with Trisha Patel and her mother-in-law Rohini. Also present, according to publicly available information, was Louisiana Democratic Party Chair Katie Bernhardt.

Not long after the White House event, O'Malley set up a campaign committee, launching her bid against Rep. Mandie Landry in New Orleans. Within a month, Trisha Patel, her in-laws Rohini and Ajay Patel, Desai, Caimano and the state Build USA PAC had donated a combined $15,000 to O'Malley.

That race between O'Malley and incumbent Landry, both Democrats, garnered significant attention. The Orleans Parish Democratic Executive Committee endorsed O'Malley, as did several high-profile Democrats, including Congressman Troy Carter, Gov. John Bel Edwards and former U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu.

Still, Landry easily beat O'Malley in the Oct. 14, 2023, primary election, earning 66% of the vote to O'Malley's 26%.

Gambit requested comments from the state Democratic Party, O'Malley, Landry, Carter and numerous other federal and state candidates who received campaign donations either from Patel directly or the PACs.

In a statement, Landry responded that she did not plan to return the donation from Build USA PAC unless the "government asks for it," because she had to "raise a large amount of money for reelection" and put her "personal and professional life on hold" when O'Malley challenged her.

Boissiere told Gambit he did not know Patel and was unfamiliar with her legal troubles.

A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Krishnamoorti's campaign said in a statement to Gambit that the congressman "met Trisha Patel in Washington D.C. at cultural events celebrating Diwali. In light of the severity of these allegations, Raja is donating the full amount he received from Trisha and her affiliated PAC to local charities."

U.S. Rep. Jackson's campaign also said they'd be donating the PAC's contribution "to a worthy cause," adding that Jackson "has not interacted with Ms. Patel."