Just months after Kapur was charged with securities fraud in the U.S., he had an e-mail exchange with Mossack Fonseca employees in November 2012, asking that ownership of the foundation be transferred to his brother Kabir, the newspaper reported. Kabir then wrote Mossack Fonseca, seeking a letter attesting that Chetan had no access to the foundation, saying it was “KEY to making sure he does not get detained.”

An e-mail to Kabir Kapur’s relative in India wasn’t immediately returned.

Kapur’s lawyer, Eric Creizman, and Kevin Callahan, a spokesman for the SEC, declined to comment on the case. Mossack Fonseca didn’t respond to an e-mailed request for comment.

Evaded Courts

Kapur, 41, an Indian-born fund manager with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, pleaded guilty to failing to maintain proper documents of two funds he managed at ThinkStrategy. He was sentenced to time served and a year’s probation. He also was found liable for fraud in the investor lawsuit and agreed to settle the SEC claims.

Kapur was ordered to pay the investors $4.8 million and agreed to give regulators $4.9 million. Three years elapsed and Kapur hadn’t paid a cent, so Engelmayer jailed him.

Kapur claims he owes more than $20,500 on his credit cards. His lawyers say their search for assets was stymied because Kapur said he couldn’t remember the password to his Gmail account. Kapur said he gave a $92,000 engagement ring, returned to him by an ex-fiancee, to his mother. She said she sold it and bought $1,500 in costume jewelry, according to Kapur’s lawyers. The SEC, meanwhile, noted that Kapur gave a Porsche 911 that he bought for $120,000 to a friend who doesn’t drive.

Kapur lost credibility with the judge after he got caught lying when he failed show up for a civil trial. He claimed through his lawyer that he was “deathly ill with enteric fever in India” -- a contagious form of typhoid -- and submitted fake doctor notes to the judge. He later admitted he was actually in New York, in fine health.

Guilty Plea

Engelmayer hasn’t bought Kapur’s poverty claims, saying evidence shows he had access to several million dollars held in two Swiss bank accounts established with the help of Mossack Fonseca. His tax returns showed he’d collected almost $5.4 million while at ThinkStrategy, yet verified only $2 million in legitimate business expenses, the judge said.