US citizenshipfraud casedenaturalizationIndian-AmericanDepartment of Justice
US Seeks to Strip Citizenship from Indian-American Man Over $2.5 Million Fraud
Published: May 8, 2026
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The US Department of Justice has filed a denaturalization complaint against Debashis Ghosh, a 62-year-old Indian-American businessman, over his role in a $2.5 million wire fraud scheme conducted before and after he became a US citizen in 2012. Ghosh, a native of India, concealed the fraud during his naturalization application, falsely claiming he had never committed a crime for which he was not arrested, the DOJ said.
Ghosh and his co-conspirator, Keith Eric Jergensen, co-CEOs of Chicago-based Verdant Capital Group, defrauded New York-based Laurentian Aerospace Corporation, which had invested $2.5 million for an aircraft maintenance facility at Plattsburgh’s former Air Force base. The funds were deposited into a Wells Fargo account in December 2010 with the condition they remain untouched without Laurentian’s approval, but Ghosh and Jergensen transferred the full amount within months, using it for company expenses and other payments.
The DOJ alleges Ghosh committed crimes involving moral turpitude, engaged in unlawful acts reflecting poorly on his moral character, and willfully misrepresented material facts during his naturalization. The Immigration and Nationality Act permits revocation of citizenship if it was obtained through fraud or concealment of a material fact. Ghosh was convicted in 2017 after being indicted in 2016 alongside Jergensen.
Victims of the fraud included a retired US Air Force Colonel, a former New York City Deputy Mayor, a retired law firm partner, and several retired executives from the financial and aviation sectors. Ghosh also misappropriated $2.4 million from other clients through Verdant Capital Group.
The court is expected to schedule hearings on the denaturalization complaint, which seeks to revoke Ghosh’s certificate of naturalization and cancel his US citizenship.