Ganesh H. Betanabhatla, who previously managed private equity funds through his now-defunct firm, Ramas Capital Management, LLC, based in Houston, agreed to settle charges imposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC alleges that Betanabhatla defrauded three issuers by promising to buy $263.5 million of their securities on behalf of investment funds he managed when he and the funds did not have the money to invest.
According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska, Betanabhatla concealed the fact that the funds he claimed to manage had no money to invest by falsifying key documents and emails he provided to publishers and saying lying to a publisher about having $500 million to invest.
The SEC alleges that none of the $263.5 million in commitments made by Betanabhatla were funded, leaving the issuers to fill the capital gap they thought they had secured. Two of the issuers that Betanabhatla defrauded were allegedly special purpose buyout companies, or SPACs, and the third was a private company.
Betanabhatla, without admitting or denying the allegations in the SEC’s complaint, consented to a final judgment, subject to court approval, permanently enjoining him from violating the anti-fraud provisions of Section 10(b ) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, order him to pay a civil penalty of $250,000 and impose an officer and director bar on him for five years.