Vic Alston and Sid Chakraverty — along with their accountant, Shijing “Poppy” Cao — are accused in a federal indictment unsealed Friday of falsifying records related to the city’s minority contracting requirements for developers who receive tax incentives.
Lux Living Owners Indicted on Fraud Charges Alleging Minority Hiring Scheme
Date Posted: September 24, 2024
Posted In: News,
From St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The brothers behind one of the city’s most prolific apartment developers were indicted Friday on fraud charges related to the city’s minority hiring program.
The 24-page indictment charges Chakraverty, Alston and Cao with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 11 counts of wire fraud.
The brothers own developer Lux Living and construction company Big Sur Construction, as well as landlords Asprient Properties and STL CityWide.
The charges are a potentially devastating blow to a developer that, just a few years ago, was among the most prolific apartment builders in St. Louis, and one of its largest residential landlords.
Over the past few years, Lux has invested more than $150 million in nearly 1,000 units in DeBaliviere Place, Lafayette Square and Soulard, welcome projects for a city that has tried for decades to revitalize its urban core.
The brothers in recent years also built a new apartment building at Delmar and Interstate 170 in University City and owned hundreds of other units in buildings from South Grand Boulevard to downtown.