Man sentenced to federal prison for multi-million dollar bank fraud

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — A New Jersey man was sentenced to federal prison on Friday for his role in a multi-million-dollar bank fraud conspiracy, according to the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Rajendra G. Parikh, 65, of Monroe, New Jersey, was sentenced to two years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Additionally, Parikh is ordered to forfeit $6 million and pay restitution of $6,010,655.72.

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As part of the scheme, the group fraudulently obtained more than $35 million in Small Business Administration (SBA) loans from financial institutions to purchase hotels.

In 2025, Parikh and his co-conspirators Mehul Ramesh Khatiwala, 44, of Voorhees, New Jersey, and Jennifer H. Watkins, 50, of Marlton, New Jersey, pled guilty to the federal charges.

According to court documents, Parikh was an owner of KPG Hotel Mgmt. LLC (KPG) and Khatiwala was the owner and managing member of Delaware Hotel Group LLC (DHG), and an operator of GMK Consulting LLC (GMK) and KPG. These LLCs were hotel management and loan brokerage companies located in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.

Watkins served as a project coordinator for DHG and managing member of Forza Consulting LLC, a hotel consulting and loan brokerage company located in Marlton, New Jersey.

An additional co-conspirator, Rebecca Marie Cohn, 39, aka Rebecca Marie Stanton, worked as a settlement and title processor for Residential Title & Escrow Company, a real estate title company located in Owings Mills, Maryland.

From August 2018 through February 2020, Parikh, Khatiwala, and Watkins conspired to obtain loan proceeds to buy and sell hotels in connection with a hotel-flipping scheme.

In their guilty pleas, Parikh and Khatiwala admitted that they acted as managers or supervisors in connection with the scheme. Additionally, Parikh, Khatiwala, and Watkins admitted that they created shell companies using co-conspirators as straw owners of the entities.

Khatiwala was previously sentenced to seven years in federal prison and Watkins to three years.

Now, Parikh will serve two years in federal prison.