Western Australian Labor MP Jagadish Krishnan is being sued in New Jersey over an alleged $1 million loan that a US businessman claims has not been repaid.
Kannan Amalraj and his company, Kenyan Consulting LLC, are seeking $1.2 million from the Riverton MP, including interest, alleging he was unjustly enriched after failing to settle the debt within the agreed timeframe.
Krishnan has vowed to defend the action and has launched separate defamation proceedings in the WA Supreme Court against Mr Amalraj and his wife, Gokila, over emails they sent to senior Western Australian figures about the disputed loan.
Court documents filed in the New Jersey District Court allege Mr Amalraj was contacted by Krishnan through a mutual friend in early May 2024 to discuss fundraising for Spectrum Health, the GP network in which the MP was a major shareholder before its multimillion-dollar sale this week.
Mr Amalraj claims he initially agreed to lend US$250,000, transferred in two instalments of US$125,000 on May 6 and May 8. He alleges Krishnan later sought further funding after a meeting in Connecticut on May 31, where he presented the Spectrum Health business to another investor.
The businessman claims a further US$405,000 was paid in two instalments in July 2024. Although the fundraising material concerned Spectrum Health, he alleges Krishnan asked for the money to be transferred to Codd Technologies Pty Ltd, a company solely owned and directed by the MP’s wife, Yaamini Jagadish.
Mr Amalraj alleges he was told Codd Technologies and Spectrum Health were connected. Australian Securities and Investments Commission documents, however, show the companies are not affiliated.
The claim alleges there was an oral agreement for the loan to be repaid within a year with interest of 8 per cent a year. Mr Amalraj alleges Krishnan subsequently attempted to “confuse the situation, cause delay and avoid repayment” through a “pattern of non-response, evasive explanations and unsupported assertions”.
Krishnan’s lawyer, Martin Bennett, said the New Jersey lawsuit would be “fully defended” and provided a copy of a loan agreement signed by Ms Jagadish as a director of Codd Technologies, and by Ms Amalraj on behalf of Kenyan Consulting.
That document records the loan as having been agreed on May 15, 2024, with interest of 6 per cent a year and a repayment period of nine years — terms that differ from those alleged in the US proceedings.
Mr and Mrs Amalraj sent emails about the loan to the offices of Premier Roger Cook and Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson earlier this year. Krishnan’s WA Supreme Court writ alleges those emails “falsely and maliciously defamed” him.
The MP is seeking damages and an injunction preventing the couple from repeating the claims. He has represented Riverton since 2021 and served as Parliamentary Secretary to Mr Cook from December 2023 until March 2025.
