Chicago Fund Manager Vishal Savla Sentenced to 42 Months After Blaming a Fake 'Fat Finger' Trade for Investors' Losses

Case from 2018–2019 (U.S. Attorney's Office release: Aug. 24, 2018; later developments are from court records and other sources cited below). Published on Scammers.com Oct. 16, 2026; case status is current as of that date.

Vishal Savla, who ran Chicago investment fund VCAP LLC, was sentenced on Jan. 9, 2019, to 42 months in federal prison for defrauding investors and covering up trading losses with fake statements and a made-up "fat finger" trading error, according to the court's judgment [2]. He had pleaded guilty to wire fraud in August 2018 [1].

How the scheme worked

According to Savla's plea agreement, as described by prosecutors [1]:

1. Raising money: From 2014 to 2018 he raised about $2.3 million by promising substantial returns from trading equities, options and futures.
2. Massive losses: VCAP lost about 96% in 2014 and more than 99% in the first 11 months of 2016.
3. Fake profits: He kept soliciting money and sent phony statements showing large profits.
4. The "fat finger" story: In December 2016 he told clients an accidental online trading error had cut VCAP's value by about 90% in a day. There was no such error; trading losses caused the decline.
5. Family loans: After hearing the fat-finger story, a family member lent him $500,000, which he used to partly repay some investors.

He also spent about $260,000 of investor money on himself, including living expenses, though VCAP had no cumulative profits to support withdrawals.

The person sentenced

Vishal Savla, of Chicago (37 at plea) [1]

• Plea (Aug. 24, 2018): pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
• Sentence (Jan. 9, 2019): 42 months in prison followed by supervised release, imposed by U.S. District Judge Charles R. Norgle [2].
• Investigation: FBI Chicago.

Red flags

• A sudden, dramatic "one-time error" explaining why your account collapsed.
• Statements generated by the manager rather than a third-party administrator or custodian.
• Requests from relatives to lend money to cover a fund's "temporary" problem.

What to do if you're targeted

1. Ask for statements from an independent fund administrator and audited financials.
2. Check registration with the SEC, the NFA and FINRA BrokerCheck.
3. Report suspected fraud to the SEC at sec.gov/tcr or the CFTC at cftc.gov/complaint.

Case status (as of Oct. 16, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 16, 2026	Source
Vishal Savla, Chicago	N.D. Ill. (Judge Norgle), No. 1:18-cr-00310	Pleaded guilty Aug. 24, 2018; sentenced Jan. 9, 2019, to 42 months	[1], [2]

We have not found a source on any proceedings after 2019.

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Chicago Financial Advisor Guilty of Fraud for Swindling Investors and Family out of More Than $2 Million," Aug. 24, 2018. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/chicago-financial-advisor-guilty-fraud-swindling-investors-and-family-out-more-2
2. U.S. District Court, N.D. Ill., United States v. Savla, No. 1:18-cr-00310, Doc. 40 (judgment) (via CourtListener RECAP). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ilnd.352699/gov.uscourts.ilnd.352699.40.0.pdf

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