Andover Business Owner Is Charged With Obstruction

BOSTON – An Andover man was charged in an Information with obstructing a grand jury investigation by altering and deleting documents from his computer. 

Kamlesh Patel, 48, was charged with obstruction by destruction and alteration of documents in connection with a grand jury investigation.

The Information alleges that Patel received a grand jury subpoena for records relating to his business dealings with another company and relating to claims that the other company was a service-disabled, veteran-owned and operated business.  Allegedly, Patel was aware that he had documents on his computer that were responsive to the subpoena and that were relevant to the pending investigation.  Patel nonetheless deleted documents on his computer that were responsive to the grand jury subpoena.

The statutory maximum sentence for the charge is 20 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the crime, whichever is greater.  In the event of a conviction, any actual sentence will be determined by the assigned federal judge.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Jeffrey Hughes, Special Agent in Charge
of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Division; Luis Hernandez, Special Agent in Charge of the General Services Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, New England Regional Office; Michael D. Conner, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, Boston Fraud Branch Office; Aaron Collins, Special Agent in Charge of the Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General, Regional Office; Robert Panella, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Labor Racketeering & Fraud Investigations, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sara Miron Bloom and William Bloomer of Ortiz’s Office.

The details contained in the Information are allegations.  The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.