Twenty-one members of a massive India-based fraud and money
laundering conspiracy that defrauded thousands of U.S. residents of hundreds of
millions of dollars were sentenced this week to terms of imprisonment up to 20
years. Three other conspirators were
sentenced earlier this year for laundering proceeds for the conspiracy, which
was operated out of India-based call centers that targeted U.S. residents in
various telephone fraud schemes. This
week’s sentencing hearings took place in Houston, Texas, before the Honorable
David Hittner of the Southern District of Texas.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions of the U.S. Department of
Justice, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice
Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick of the Southern
District of Texas, Acting Executive Associate Director Derek N. Benner of U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations
(HSI), Inspector General J. Russell George of the U.S. Treasury Inspector
General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), and Special Agent in Charge David Green
of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG)
Houston, Texas made the announcement today.
“The stiff sentences imposed this week represent the
culmination of the first-ever large scale, multi-jurisdiction prosecution
targeting the India call center scam industry,” said Attorney General Sessions. “This case represents one of the most
significant victories to date in our continuing efforts to combat elder fraud
and the victimization of the most vulnerable members of the U.S. public. The transnational criminal ring of fraudsters
and money launderers who conspired to bilk older Americans, legal immigrants
and many others out of their life savings through their lies, threats and
financial schemes must recognize that all resources at the Department’s
disposal will be deployed to shut down these telefraud schemes, put those
responsible in jail, and bring a measure of justice to the victims.”
“This type of fraud is sickening,” said U.S. Attorney
Patrick. “However, after years of
investigation and incredible hard work by multiple agents and attorneys, these
con artists are finally headed to prison. Their cruel tactics preyed on some
very vulnerable people, thereby stealing millions from them. These sentences
should send a strong message that we will follow the trail no matter how
difficult and seek justice for those victimized by these types of transnational
schemes. We will simply not stand by and allow criminals to use the names of
legitimate government agencies to enrich themselves by victimizing others.”
“Today’s sentences should serve as a strong deterrent to
anyone considering taking part in similar scams, and I hope that they provide a
sense of justice to the victims, as well,” said HSI Acting Executive Associate
Director Derek N. Benner. “There is no
safe haven from U.S. law enforcement. HSI will continue to utilize our unique
investigative mandate, in conjunction with our local, state, and federal
partners, to attack and dismantle the criminal enterprises who would seek to
manipulate U.S. institutions and taxpayers.”
“The sentences imposed on these defendants validate our
efforts to bring to justice scammers who defraud taxpayers by impersonating
employees of the Internal Revenue Service,” said Inspector General J. Russell
George. “I wish to thank the Department
of Justice, the multiple federal agencies involved, and most importantly, my
own investigators who continue to devote countless hours to these cases. Taxpayers must remain wary of unsolicited
telephone calls from individuals claiming to be IRS employees. If any taxpayer believes they or someone they
know is a victim of an IRS impersonation scam, they should report it to TIGTA
at www.tigta.gov or by calling 1-800-366-4484.”
“The sentences imposed this week provide a clear deterrent
to those who would seek to enrich themselves by extorting the most vulnerable
in our society,” said DHS-OIG Special Agent in Charge Green. “These scammers should know that their
actions carry real consequences, both for their victims and for themselves, and
that there are dedicated agents and prosecutors who will go above and beyond to
find them, identify them and hold them accountable for their crimes.”
Miteshkumar Patel, 42, of Illinois, was sentenced to serve
240 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release on the
charge of money laundering conspiracy.
According to the factual basis of his plea agreement, Patel served as
the manager of a Chicago-based crew of “runners” that liquidated and laundered
fraud proceeds generated by callers at India-based call centers. Those callers used call scripts and lead
lists to target victims throughout the United States with telefraud schemes in
which the callers impersonated U.S. government employees from the IRS and U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
The callers duped victims into believing that they owed money to the
U.S. government and would be arrested or deported if they did not pay
immediately. After the victims
transferred money to the callers, a network of U.S.-based runners moved
expeditiously to liquidate and launder fraud proceeds through the use of
anonymous stored value cards. In
addition to recruiting, training, and tasking runners in his crew, Patel also
coordinated directly with the Indian side of the conspiracy about the operation
of the scheme. Patel was held accountable
for laundering between $9.5 and $25 million for the scheme.
Hardik Patel, 31, of Illinois, was sentenced to serve 188
months in prison followed by three years of supervised release on the charge of
wire fraud conspiracy. Hardik consented
to removal to India upon completion of his prison term. According to the factual basis of his plea
agreement, Patel was a co-owner and manager of an India-based call center
involved in the conspiracy. In addition
to managing the day-to-day operations of a call center, Patel also processed
payments and did bookkeeping for the various call centers involved in the fraud
scheme. One of the India-based
co-defendants with whom Patel communicated about the scheme was Sagar “Shaggy”
Thakar, a payment processor that Indian authorities arrested in April 2017 in
connection with call center fraud. After
moving to the United States in 2015, Patel continued to promote the conspiracy
by recruiting runners to liquidate fraud proceeds. Patel was held accountable for laundering between
$3.5 and $9.5 million dollars for the scheme.
Sunny Joshi, aka Sharad Ishwarlal Joshi and Sunny
Mahashanker Joshi, 47, of Texas, was sentenced to serve 151 months in prison on
the charge of money laundering conspiracy, and 120 months in prison on the
charge of naturalization fraud to run concurrent followed by three years of
supervised release. According to the
factual basis of his plea agreement, Joshi was a member of a Houston-based crew
of runners that he co-managed with his brother, co-defendant Mike Joshi, aka
Rajesh Bhatt. Sunny Joshi communicated
extensively with India-based co-defendants about the operations of the scheme,
and was held accountable for laundering between $3.5 and $9.5 million. Additionally, in connection with his sentence
on the immigration charge, Judge Hittner entered an order revoking Joshi’s U.S.
citizenship and requiring him to surrender his certificate of
naturalization.
Twenty-two of the defendants sentenced before Judge Hittner
were held jointly and severally liable for restitution of $8,970,396 payable to
identified victims of their crimes.
Additionally, the court entered individual preliminary orders of
forfeiture against 21 defendants for assets that were seized in the case, and
money judgments totaling over $72,942,300.
Eighteen other defendants were also sentenced in Houston
before Judge Hittner this week:
Fahad Ali, 25, of
Indiana, was sentenced to serve 108 months in prison followed by three years of
supervised release on one count of money laundering conspiracy. Judge Hittner also recommended deportation
upon completion of his sentence.
Montu Barot, 30,
of Illinois, was sentenced to serve 60 months in prison followed by three years
of supervised release on one count of conspiracy. Judge Hittner entered a stipulated judicial
order to remove Barot to India at the conclusion of his sentence.
Rajesh Bhatt, aka
Mike Joshi, 53, of Texas, was sentenced to serve 145 months in prison followed
by three years of supervised release on one count of money laundering
conspiracy. Judge Hittner entered a
stipulated judicial order to remove Bhatt to India at the conclusion of his
sentence.
Ashvinbhai
Chaudhari, 28, of Texas, was sentenced to serve 87 months in prison followed by
three years of supervised release on one count of money laundering conspiracy.
Jagdish Chaudhari,
39, of Alabama, was sentenced to serve 108 months in prison followed by three
years of supervised release on one count of money laundering conspiracy. Judge Hittner entered a stipulated judicial
order to remove Chaudhari to India at the conclusion of his sentence.
Rajesh Kumar, 39,
of Arizona, was sentenced to serve 60 months in prison followed by three years
of supervised release on one count of conspiracy. Judge Hittner recommended deportation to
India following his prison sentence.
Jerry Norris, 47,
of California, was sentenced to serve 60 months in prison followed by three years
of supervised release on one count of conspiracy.
Nilesh Pandya, 54,
of Texas, was sentenced to serve three years probation on one count of
conspiracy.
Nilam Parikh, 46,
of Alabama, was sentenced to serve 48 months in prison followed by three years
of supervised release on one count of money laundering conspiracy.
Bharatkumar Patel,
43, of Illinois, was sentenced to serve 50 months in prison followed by three
years of supervised release on one count of money laundering conspiracy. Judge Hittner entered a judicial order to
remove Patel to India at the conclusion of his sentence.
Bhavesh Patel, 47,
of Alabama, was sentenced to serve 121 months in prison followed by three years
of supervised release on one count of money laundering conspiracy.
Dilipkumar A.
Patel, 53, of California, was sentenced to serve 108 months in prison followed
by three years of supervised release on one count of conspiracy. Judge Hittner entered a stipulated judicial
order to remove Patel to India at the conclusion of his sentence.
Dilipkumar R.
Patel, 39, of Florida, was sentenced to serve 52 months in prison followed by
three years of supervised release on one count of conspiracy.
Harsh Patel, 28,
of New Jersey, was sentenced to serve 82 months in prison followed by three
years of supervised release on one count of money laundering conspiracy. Judge Hittner also recommended deportation
upon completion of his sentence.
Nisarg Patel, 26,
of New Jersey, was sentenced to serve 48 months in prison followed by three
years of supervised release on one count of conspiracy. Judge Hittner recommended deportation to
India following his prison sentence.
Praful Patel, 50,
of Florida, was sentenced to serve 60 months in prison followed by three years
of supervised release on one count of conspiracy.
Rajubhai Patel,
32, of Illinois, was sentenced to serve 151 months in prison followed by three
years of supervised release on one count of money laundering conspiracy.
Viraj Patel, 33,
of California, was sentenced to serve 165 months in prison followed by three
years of supervised release on one count of money laundering conspiracy. Judge Hittner entered a stipulated judicial
order to remove Patel to India at the conclusion of his sentence.
In addition to these 21 defendants, three others were
previously sentenced for their involvement in the same fraud and money
laundering scheme:
Asmitaben Patel,
34, of Illinois, was sentenced before Judge Hittner in the Southern District of
Texas, Houston Division, on March 23.
She was sentenced to serve 24 months in prison on the charge of
conspiracy.
Dipakkumar Patel,
38, of Illinois, was sentenced before Judge Eleanor L. Ross in the Northern
District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, on Feb. 14. Patel, who pleaded guilty to charges of
conspiracy and passport fraud, was sentenced to serve a prison term of 51
months, to run concurrently. He was also
ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $128,006.26.
Raman Patel, 82,
of Arizona, was sentenced before Judge John Tuchi in the District of Arizona,
Phoenix Division, on Jan. 29. In
connection with his plea agreement, Raman Patel received a probationary
sentence for his plea to conspiracy. He
was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $76,314.38.
According to various admissions made in connection with the
defendants’ guilty pleas, between 2012 and 2016, the defendants and their
conspirators perpetrated a complex fraud and money laundering scheme in which
individuals from call centers located in Ahmedabad, India, frequently
impersonated officials from the IRS or USCIS in a ruse designed to defraud
victims located throughout the United States.
Using information obtained from data brokers and other sources, call
center operators targeted U.S. victims who were threatened with arrest,
imprisonment, fines or deportation if they did not pay alleged monies owed to
the government. Victims who agreed to
pay the scammers were instructed how to provide payment, including by
purchasing stored value cards or wiring money.
Once a victim provided payment, the call centers turned to a network of
runners based in the United States to liquidate and launder the extorted funds
as quickly as possible by purchasing reloadable cards or retrieving wire
transfers. In a typical scenario, call
centers directed runners to purchase these stored value reloadable cards and
transmit the unique card number to India-based co-conspirators who registered
the cards using the misappropriated personal identifying information (PII) of U.S.
citizens. The India-based
co-conspirators then loaded these cards with scam funds obtained from
victims. The runners used the stored
value cards to purchase money orders that they deposited into the bank account
of another person. For their services, the
runners would earn a specific fee or a percentage of the funds. Runners also received victims’ funds via wire
transfers, which were retrieved under fake names and through the use of using
false identification documents, direct bank deposits by victims, and Apple
iTunes or other gift cards that victims purchased.
The indictment in this case also charged 32 India-based
conspirators and five India-based call centers with general conspiracy, wire
fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy. These defendants have yet to be arraigned in
this case. An indictment is merely an
allegation and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond
a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
HSI, DHS-OIG, and TIGTA led the investigation of this case. Also providing significant support were: the
Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs; the Ft. Bend, Texas,
County Sheriff’s Department; the Hoffman Estates, Illinois, Police Department;
the Leonia, New Jersey, Police Department; the Naperville, Illinois, Police
Department; the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office Family
Protection/Elder Abuse Unit; the U.S. Secret Service; U.S. Small Business
Administration Office of Inspector General; IOC-2; INTERPOL Washington; USCIS;
U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service; and the U.S. Attorney’s
Offices of the Northern District of Alabama, District of Arizona, Central
District of California, Northern District of California, District of Colorado,
Northern District of Florida, Middle District of Florida, Northern District of
Georgia, Northern District of Illinois, Northern District of Indiana, Eastern
District of Louisiana, District of Nevada, and the District of New Jersey. The Federal Communications Commission’s
Enforcement Bureau provided assistance in TIGTA’s investigation. Additionally, the Executive Office for U.S.
Attorneys (EOUSA), Legal and Victim Programs, provided significant support to
the prosecution.
Senior Trial Attorney Michael Sheckels and Trial Attorney
Mona Sahaf of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions
Section (HRSP), Trial Attorney Amanda S. Wick of the Criminal Division’s Money
Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark
McIntyre and Craig Feazel of the Southern District of Texas prosecuted the
case. Kaitlin Gonzalez of HRSP was the
paralegal for this case.
A Department of Justice website has been established to
provide information about the case to already identified and potential victims,
and the public. Anyone who believes they
may be a victim of fraud or identity theft in relation to this investigation or
other telefraud scam phone calls may contact the FTC via this website.
Anyone who wants additional information about telefraud
scams generally, or preventing identity theft or fraudulent use of their
identity information, may obtain helpful information on the IRS tax scams
website, the FTC phone scam website and the FTC identity theft website.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment