South Bay developer in SEC fraud case files for bankruptcy
SAN JOSE >> Sanjeev Acharya, a South Bay developer who faces fraud allegations and the implosion of his Bay Area real estate empire, has filed for bankruptcy, hoping to reorganize his company’s finances.
In the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, Acharya stated he had incurred at least $100 million and as much as $500 million in debts, according to documents on file with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
The value of his assets ranged from $1 million to $10 million, the court papers show.
Acharya estimated that he owes money to anywhere from 200 to approximately 1,000 creditors.
Among the notable debts that were listed in the bankruptcy filing:
• $45 million for a construction loan linked to a property at 42183 Osgood Road in Fremont. New York state-based Acres Capital, through an affiliate, was listed as the lender.
• $40.7 million for a construction loan connected to a property at 1821 to 1873 Almaden Road in San Jose. Acres Capital provided the financing.
• $39.6 million for a construction loan associated with a site on Balbach
Street in downtown San Jose. Acharya’s company, Silicon Sage Builders, has developed and completed a residential complex at 180 Balbach in San Jose called Aura. Chicago-based Prime Finance Partners was listed as the provider of the loan.
• $13.9 million for a land loan at 37358 to 37482 Fremont Blvd., which is in the Centerville area of Fremont. Beverly Hills-based Bolour Associates is listed as the lender.
• $8.3 million for a land loan at 41965, 41911 & 42021 Osgood Road in Fremont. Bolour Associates provided the loan.
• $7.9 million for a construction loan and land loan for a site at 1313 Franklin St. in Santa Clara. Bolour Associates is listed as the lender.
• $5.98 million for a land loan at 2101 to 2149 Alum Rock Ave. in San Jose. Los Angeles-based Parkview Financial is listed as the lender.
• $4.9 million for a land loan at 510 to 528 S. Mathilda Ave. in Sunnyvale. Bolour Associates is the lender.
• $3.6 million for a land loan at 1368 El Camino Real in Santa Clara. On
Jan. 11, lenders began foreclosure proceedings to seize the property through a notice of default filing for a $3.5 million loan that’s delinquent. The loan relates to the office and retail section of the property, which has been built and is known as Madison Park.
• $2.9 million for a building loan at 560 S. Mathilda Ave. in Sunnyvale. Acharya’s primary company, Silicon Sage, maintains its headquarters at this location.
• $1.8 million for a land loan at 1661, 1663, and 1665 Alum Rock Ave. in San Jose.
An estimated 250 people who paid about $119 million to invest in real estate projects launched by Acharya and Silicon Sage Builders face the prospect that they were defrauded through a financial web woven by the real estate developer, according to a complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The fraudulent activity allegedly orchestrated by Acharya and Silicon Sage Builders began around August 2016, according to a complaint that the SEC filed on Dec. 21 in the U.S. District Court for Northern California.
“Since August 24, 2016, Silicon Sage Builders has raised approximately $119.2 million from approximately 250 investors through a continuous series of misrepresentations and omissions and other deceptive conduct,” the SEC claimed in its complaint.
Silicon Sage and Acharya painted an overly rosy picture of the outlook, prospects, and financial strength of the company’s array of projects, according to the SEC’s allegations.
“Since at least August 24, 2016, Silicon Sage Builders and all but one of its real estate development projects have not been profitable,” the SEC complaint alleges.
In meetings with investors around August 2020, Acharya appeared to acknowledge that he had made some errors over the years, according to the SEC documents.
Acharya said he should have been more transparent with investors, the SEC’s complaint stated.
“I should have done it,” Acharya said at an investment meeting. “Back then, maybe my thinking was that everybody’s returns will come. So … I really didn’t bother to get into details, but what I was not thinking, what my mistake was that I wasn’t thinking a downside scenario.”