SAN FRANCISCO — Sanjeev Acharya, 58, of San Jose, was sentenced on Thursday, October 29, 2026, to 18 months in federal prison for wire fraud and money laundering, after admitting that he raised money for his Bay Area real estate company while hiding from investors that the business was in significant debt and running short of cash. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer handed down the sentence in the Northern District of California, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Northern District of California
Acharya was the President and CEO of SiliconSage Builders and a number of related entities, described in his plea agreement as a vertically integrated development and construction company behind numerous large, multi-unit, mixed-use real estate projects in the Bay Area. He personally solicited investments to fund those projects, according to the Justice Department.
Prosecutors said the fraud ran from March 2020 to October 26, 2020. Hit in part by COVID-19, SiliconSage was in significant debt and struggling financially, and it needed new investments to survive. Acharya nevertheless solicited investors without telling them about the company's true financial situation, hiding its significant debt and serious cash-flow shortfalls even though, by his own plea agreement, he knew the enterprise was in financial trouble.
During the scheme, Acharya deceived more than 20 investors, who lost more than $2.2 million as a result of the fraud, the Justice Department said. Acharya was charged on September 5, 2025, and pleaded guilty on January 6, 2026, to wire fraud and to engaging in a monetary transaction with property derived from fraud.
What the judge ordered
In addition to the 18-month prison term, Judge Breyer sentenced Acharya to two years of supervised release after prison and ordered him to pay $2,253,219.84 in restitution to victims. Acharya is scheduled to begin serving his sentence on January 9, 2027, according to the Justice Department.
"Financial difficulties are never an excuse to deceive investors," said United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian. "Mr. Acharya's prison sentence holds him accountable for his fraudulent conduct and sends a clear message that those who exploit investors for financial gain will face serious consequences, including jail time."
John Abram, Acting Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation's San Francisco Field Office, said the sentence holds Acharya accountable for misleading investors and violating their trust. "Financial fraud is never just about money. Behind these losses are individuals and families whose retirement plans, educational opportunities, and financial security were put at risk," Abram said. The case was investigated by IRS-CI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christiaan Highsmith, with assistance from Janice Pagsanjan, Mimi Lam and Kevin Costello.
Background: a much larger civil case came first
The criminal sentence is only the final chapter of a much larger collapse. In a separate civil case, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission previously accused Acharya and Silicon Sage Builders of a securities offering fraud involving more than $100 million raised from hundreds of investors, many of them from Northern California's South Asian community, after Acharya marketed investments to South Asian friends and family and then expanded through referrals. Those SEC figures are civil allegations about the wider offering and are separate from the narrower losses — more than $2.2 million from more than 20 investors — that Acharya admitted to in his criminal plea.
Source: East Bay Times reporting on the Silicon Sage case and receivership
Silicon Sage's properties were placed into a court-ordered receivership after the SEC case, and the unwinding has dragged on for years. The Almaden, a 91-unit condominium project at 1821 Almaden Road in San Jose developed by Acharya's company, has still not completed any purchase transactions, according to court filings reported by the East Bay Times, while most units in a similar 93-unit Fremont project developed by the company have been sold. Court-appointed receiver David Stapleton has been updating the supervising federal judge on efforts to untangle the projects.
San Jose, Sunnyvale and Fremont are home to one of the largest Punjabi and wider South Asian communities in California. Prosecutors and the SEC say this scheme grew through friends, family and community referrals — a reminder that an investment pitched inside a trusted community network still needs audited financials, written disclosures and independent verification before money changes hands.
What happens next
Acharya must report to begin his 18-month sentence on January 9, 2027, and will then serve two years of supervised release. The $2,253,219.84 restitution order stands alongside the sentence. The receivership over the former Silicon Sage projects, including the stalled San Jose Almaden development, continues separately in federal court, and buyers and investors tied to those projects remain dependent on that process rather than on the criminal case.