John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that URMILA SRI THAKUR, also known as Urmila Buddhu-Thakur and Indro Buddhu-Thakur, 73, of Wethersfield, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to four years of probation, the first four months of which THAKUR must serve in home confinement, for her role in a fraudulent debt elimination scheme.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2009 to June 2012, THAKUR’s former husband, Deowraj “Deo” Buddhu and their daughter, Sunita Buddhu, sold a debt elimination “program” to vulnerable individuals through various businesses, including Paradise Consulting Service, Hema, Inc., and Secured Redemption.  In exchange for substantial fees, Deo Buddhu told victims about a little-known government fund that could be used to pay off their mortgages and other debts.  In fact, no such fund exists.  Buddhu instructed his victims to stop making payments on their mortgages, credit cards and other debts, and to stop paying their property taxes.  He also provided his victims with fictitious promissory notes, which he called “bonds,” as well as other frivolous documentation, and advised his victims to use them to pay their debts...