????一個聯邦大陪審團上周三下午對安索?塞思提起刑事訴訟。這位30歲芝加哥男子的大膽計劃是運用他從中國投資者手中籌集的1.60億美元資金，建設一個巨型酒店和會議綜合大樓，《財富》（Fortune）雜志最近也對他進行了調查。

????起訴書指控塞思犯有8項通信欺詐罪和2項虛假陳述罪。如果罪名被判成立，他將面臨每項欺詐罪名最高20年監禁、虛假陳述罪名最高10年監禁的處罰。

????在此之前，塞思曾經與美國證券交易委員會（SEC）達成一項和解協議，其中他既沒承認、也沒否認有罪。EB-5簽證項目可以讓那些向美國企業投資至少50萬美元的外國人一躍而至移民排期的最前方，塞思的募資對象正是那些希望通過EB-5簽證項目獲得美國永久居留權的中國投資者。

????塞思宣稱要投資一個耗資9.12億美元的“LEED綠色建筑鉑金級認證”綜合大樓項目，在奧黑爾機場（O’Hare Airport）附近的一塊2.8英畝土地上興建5家品牌酒店。為此，他與近300名富有的投資者簽了約。但起訴書指控稱，他是用荒誕的謊言與偽造文件募集到的資金，謊稱這個項目已獲得政府融資和許可，并從酒店連鎖機構獲得入駐承諾，以及本人擁有豐富的開發經驗。

????事實上，正如《財富》雜志報道，塞思唯一的酒店行業經驗就是將自家破舊的汽車旅館經營到倒閉。

????SEC的民事欺詐訴訟于2013年2月提交，叫停了這場騙局，并最終追回了第三方存管的約1.47億美元投資者資金。在去年3月份的和解中，塞思及其業務實體被罰款390萬美元，他個人20年內禁入證券銷售相關行業。

????除了牢獄和罰款訴求，周三的訴狀（與SEC和解一樣）希望再追回1100萬美元管理費，即賽思向每位投資者收取的4.15萬美元。這些錢本來應該只用于項目支出，塞思曾告訴投資者稱，如果他們的簽證未獲批準，這些錢可以全部退還。

????起訴書稱，塞思把這些錢“幾乎都”花光了，“侵吞”了至少32萬美元服務費，用于“給他、他的家人和朋友購買奢侈品”，為一項不相關的法律和解支付費用以及“為一項美容整形業務提供資金”。

????A federal grand jury this afternoon brought criminal charges against AnshooSethi, the 30-year-old Chicago man whose audacious scheme to build a giant hotel and convention complex with $160 million he raised from Chinese investors was the subject of a recent Fortune investigation.

????The indictment charges Sethi with eight counts of wire fraud and two counts of making false statements. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years on each fraud count, and ten more years on the false-statement charges.

????Sethi, who previously reached a consent agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission without acknowledging or denying culpability, raised the funds from Chinese investors seeking U.S. residency through the booming EB-5 visa program, which allows foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in American businesses to jump to the front of immigration line.

????Claiming to be building a $912-million, “Zero-Carbon Platinum LEED-certified” complex featuring five name-brand hotels on a 2.8-acre tract near O’Hare Airport, Sethi signed up nearly 300 wealthy investors. But he raised the money, the indictment charged, with a combination of outlandish lies and forged documents about the project’s government financing and permits, the commitments he had from hotel chains, and his own development experience.

????In truth, as Fortune reported, Sethi’s only experience in the lodging business was running his family’s shabby motel into the ground.

????The SEC’s civil fraud action, filed in February 2013, brought the scheme to a halt and ultimately recovered about $147 million in investor funds, which had been held in escrow. In a settlement last March, Sethi and his business entities were fined $3.9 million and he was barred from any association with the sale of securities for 20 years.

????In addition to prison time and fines, today’s indictment (as the SEC settlement did) seeks the recovery of an additional $11 million in administrative fees—$41,500 per investor—that Sethi collected. The money, which Sethi told investors was fully refundable if their visas were not approved, was supposed to be used solely for project expenses.

????According to the indictment, Sethi spent “nearly all” the money—and “misappropriated” at least $320,000 of the fees “for the purchase of luxury goods for himself, family, and friends,” to make a payment on an unrelated lawsuit settlement, and “to fund a cosmetic surgery business.”