The Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against Himanshu Jindal, also known as Manish Jindal, a citizen of India living in Jaipur, on October 6, 2026. The complaint was filed October 5 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The allegations have not been proven.
The SEC alleges Jindal had no accounting or auditing qualifications but told a freelance job platform he was a U.S. certified public accountant. Around August 2023 he answered a public company’s posting for a PCAOB-registered auditor, claiming to be a licensed CPA and PCAOB-registered auditor. The complaint says he supplied a fraudulent engagement letter purporting to come from a New York accounting firm, with a forged signature of its principal.
The SEC says he then provided a phony audit report that the company included in its annual report on Form 10-K, which investors relied on. He is charged with violating Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5, and with aiding and abetting the issuer’s reporting violations. The SEC seeks injunctions, disgorgement with interest and a civil penalty.