DRS Employees Honored by US Attorney
Special Agent James Tetreault and Revenue Examiner Katara Jones of the DRS Criminal Investigation Division have been recognized for their work in the case of U.S. v. Pavan Vaswani and Rishi Malik, which resulted in a guilty plea, imprisonment, and more than $5.8 million in ordered restitution to the state. The defendants failed to pay over the majority of tax due on tobacco products imported into Connecticut, which they then sold to a network of redistributors.
Mr. Tetrealt and Ms. Jones were honored at the Connecticut U.S. Attorney's Office 2019 Awards Ceremony, held in New Haven on Friday, June 14, for their contributions to one of 24 significant criminal prosecutions and civil cases from the past year.
In bringing Vaswani and Malik to justice, the agency executed search warrants, performed surveillance, interviewed witnesses, and conducted extensive analysis to prove the extent of the criminal operation. Initial arrests in the case were announced in September 2017 following the months-long DRS investigation.
As part of sentencing the Court took special note of the harm from the defendants' evasion of taxes, sending a message that those evading tax due to the state – particularly those in the tobacco distribution industry – will be vigorously investigated and prosecuted by state and federal authorities.